Outcasts Rising
by wingman11
Summary: Kyle Rodric lives in a world where Pokemon are feared and killed on sight. Outcasted by this society, he finds solace in Pokemon and, eventually, comes to befriend them. Can he heal his mental wounds in time to save Pokemon from extinction? -SUSPENDED-
1. Prologue

A/N: Hey guys! Just a little quick thing that I jotted down for my new story that I'll be writing at the same time as the next book in the Chronicles of Fate. I was actually playing around with this idea for a few weeks before I finally decided to write the prologue for it. If you like it, please review. If I get enough people who like the idea, then I might actually try to have some chapters posted up before Robotics is over. And yes, the summary doesn't lie. I am using my own name, but the last name is just made up. Anyway, onto the story!

Oh, and the general disclaimer. I no own Pokemon. There. Happy?

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Outcasts Rising

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Prologue

Fear. One simple four letter word. Yet it means so much. In the dictionary, fear is defined as "a feeling of alarm or disquiet caused by the expectation of danger, pain, disaster, or the like". But that isn't all that fear is. Fear isn't just a feeling. Fear is so much more.

Fear is a spark to so many other things than just feelings of alarm. Fear can spark so many things. It can start a lifelong hatred of something. It can start a downward spiral of someone's life. It can cause so much damage to anyone's life that it's almost impossible to fix.

It can end just as many things. Someone's life may end because they can't take the constant fear that they live in. It can cause the end of a civilization. It may even be the end of an entire species of beings.

But despite the many evils that breed from fear, there is one good thing that rises from fear. Fear can present people with a challenge. It can give them the reason to rise up and fight for something. It can be one of the greatest motivators of change.

And that's how our story will begin. It begins with one man's fear that came from a major traumatic event. Fear that sparked the demise of most of the entire race of what was once a loved and respected race of creatures. Fear that motivated him to cause it.

And it was that now worldwide fear and hatred of said beings that sparked the fire in the heart of one teenage outcast. He was one who saw these creatures and knew that they were being misjudged. One who just knew that this race of beings wasn't to be feared, but respected. One who looked to the past and took from it something that nobody else could.

This is the story of the outcast who rose up out of nowhere and challenged the great beast known as fear.

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	2. Ghostly Presence

A/N: Hey everyone, what's up? I thought that I would try to get something out on this one, and since my true first chapter isn't finished, I decided to post what I do have finished. Until my first chapter is up, this is what I've got. Once the rest is done, I'll post it up over this one, so be sure to keep an eye out for it. Also, I'm going to start thanking reviewers at the start of each chapter, and try to reply to every review. So thank you to ReLeeS and Nanashi Chimera for reviewing!

Enjoy, and remember to tell me what you think in your reviews!

Edit: Hey, thanks to ReLeeS, I've decided to leave this as the first chapter and make my next update a new chapter. I made a few minor edits, so you should probably re-read it if you've already read it. Thanks!

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Chapter One – Ghostly Presence

I sat in my desk and stared at the lone paper that sat on it. It was a worksheet for math. I looked at it and did nothing. Not because I didn't understand it, but because I couldn't concentrate on it.

My stomach growled again for the hundredth time that day, and I glanced down at it. I inwardly cursed myself for not eating breakfast this morning. Usually I at least grab a breakfast bar, but today, I woke up late and had no time to get anything.

I leaned back into the makeshift bed that my desk provided me. Since my desk was backed up right to the wall and the side that allows students in and out of the seat was close to a corner, I had made use of a stack of textbooks by placing my backpack on it and using it as a pillow.

As I lay there, I let my mind wander. It was all that I could do to keep my mind off of my stomach. I first thought about my homework. It wasn't too hard, just some simple algebra. I studied the room, surveying the many other desks with a student in each. I barely knew any of them, and that was normal for me. I only knew one person well, and that was Elizabeth Myrick.

Elizabeth, or Lizzy as she preferred, was a quiet person, practically silent. She rarely spoke, and when she did, it was in a near whisper that was barely audible. She was fairly pretty, with long brown hair and light blue eyes. She was somewhat short, but just as tall as I was. She was somewhat skinny, and she seemed frail, but when she found something to stand for, she held her ground. I knew that from personal experience because I was one of the things that she often stood up for.

I started to think about how much I actually liked her, wandering into how beautiful her features were. Then I shook my head, letting my brown hair flop all over my head wildly. I blinked my brown eyes once, getting the previous thoughts out of my head, and I got back to my original train of thought.

To tell the truth, I was generally ignored. I belonged to no clubs, nor any groups of people. I wasn't smart enough to be a nerd, nor was I cool enough to be a popular kid. I wasn't funny enough to be a class clown, nor depressing enough to be an emo. I almost felt like a ghostly presence; a ghost wandering around in the state of invisibility knowing that I was there, but no one else was able to see, much less note my presence.

Except for Lizzy. She was my only true friend. That's why I know her so well.

Anyway, I went back to my daydreaming. My mind wandered to what we would do next hour. Next hour was… history, that's right! World History. We were studying what was called The Grand Revolution. Currently, we were discussing why it had started in the first place.

The bell brought me back into reality. Finally, lunch time! I quickly stood up and gathered my stuff. I was so grateful that I had first lunch shift, and that Lizzy did too. I quickly ran through the hallways and made it to my table. Yes, my table. Only one other person sat with me. And I'll give you one guess as to who it is.

I quickly dropped my backpack and binder on the table and ran to the entrance to what our school called "The Lounge". I pushed through the gate that was there to keep traffic flowing smoothly and grabbed my tray. I got my usual food: two beef soft tacos, a basket of curly fries, a carton of milk, a bag of chips, and a Pecha Berry slushy.

I quickly made it through the check out and sat down at my table. Lizzy was already there, seeing as she always packed her own lunch.

"Hey there, Lizzy," I said.

"Hi Kyle," she replied in her usual quiet voice.

I quickly turned my attention to my food, extremely hungry. I grabbed my first taco and began to chow down. Lizzy and I ate in silence for a few minutes. Well, not really silence since the lunchroom was filled with the sounds of other students talking about the latest news or some other thing.

After a while, I had finished off both of my tacos and was working on the fries. I looked up to see Lizzy looking at me strangely. "What?" I asked, thankful that my mouth wasn't full. If it were, I'd have sounded like an idiot.

"Oh, nothing," she answered, looking down. "I've just never seen you eat so fast before."

"Sorry," I apologized, "I didn't eat any breakfast this morning so I'm really hungry."

"I see."

I looked at my food again and then back at Lizzy. I suddenly remembered that I wanted to ask her something.

"Hey, Lizzy?"

"Yeah?"

"What do we do in World History today?" I asked. Since she had the same class that I did with the same teacher for her second hour, I figured that she could tell me so that I could be prepared. I also wanted to make sure that we were doing what I thought that we were doing.

"Just some notes on the start of The Grand Revolution," she answered, confirming my thoughts. I studied her look, and she was not looking too particularly happy. Many people would have the same kind of face that she did if they were talking about it, but she wore the face for a much different reason.

I should probably explain. About one hundred years ago, this world actually used to be inhabited by creatures called Pokemon as well as animals and humans. Humans got along quite well with Pokemon, and people even went as far as to train with them and battle each other with them for fun. Places called Pokemon Gyms popped up in various cities, and earning a badge from one of these Gyms was a great achievement.

Then The Grand Revolution happened. I'm not too sure about how it started, but all I know is that it resulted in the hatred and near extinction of Pokemon. I guess that I'd learn more about the cause in my next period.

Anyway, back to Lizzy's face. Her eyes were narrowed, and she seemed to be disgusted by the very idea of The Grand Revolution. Many others might look just like her, but she had a different reason. I shared her view on the subject, feeling my face take on the features of a scowl. I greatly disliked that subject because it involved the downfall of such a great race of creatures.

I remember in the textbooks that Pokemon used to have so many different species, maybe around 500 or so, and were greatly populous. They used to respected, and people used to work with them quite often. I don't know exactly why things changed, but I knew it dealt with their eventual demise.

It's safe to say that I didn't share the same views on Pokemon as others did. They all feared Pokemon, but I didn't see what was so bad about them. Even looking at the pictures, they didn't look fierce at all, but instead, they looked frightened. I don't know if any others saw this but Lizzy and me.

So I just nodded, muttered, "I thought so," and let the tense subject go. I turned back to my food and tried to finish. Unfortunately, my appetite had gone after imagining how the lesson would sound. Every time that we were forced to talk about it, there was one universal tone used: pure hatred.

I couldn't stand that tone when talking about Pokemon. It just seemed as if they were talking down about them. I just had to stand and bear it. Sadly, I felt that I wouldn't be able to do so today.

I sighed. I was just going to have to force myself to stay quiet. This was going to be tough.

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A/N: Remember, this is no longer half of a chapter, it is the entire first chapter. Thanks, and hope that you liked it!


	3. History

A/N: Hey everyone who reads this! Here comes chapter two of Outcasts Rising. I decided to leave chapter one the way it is, but I did make a few minor edits that you might want to check out.

In other news, I have a very interesting announcement. For those of you wondering where this story takes place, I have answered that question! Sort of! It takes place in the region of Voer, a region that I made up myself. Pronunciation - Vo as in vote and er as in error. Anyway, if any of you are interested, I actually made a map of the region and posted it here - http://www .flickr .com /photos /35222844N08 /3258843313/ If anyone wants to see it, just copy and paste it into your browser, delete the spaces between the punctuation marks, add an at symbol (y'know, the little a with the circle around it) between the 4 and the N, and it should pop up. I know that it's a lot to do just to see the picture, but please check it out anyway. If it doesn't work, don't be shy in PMing me and telling me. I'll do my best to fix it if that happens.

Also, thanks to Nanashi Chimera, PKMN Breeder Melody K., and ReLeeS for your reviews!

Now, enough with my bunch of blabbering and on to what you all came here to see: Chapter 2!!!!!!!

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Chapter Two - History

The bell finally rung, signaling the end of lunch. I had finished eating about ten or so minutes ago and my tray was already put away. I stood up, grabbed my backpack, and slung it over my shoulder. Picking up my binder, I said goodbye to Lizzy as she headed off the other way. I walked down the hallway that led to the main set of stairs.

Pushing through the crowd of talkers, I came out right next to the stairwell. I quickly climbed down them, taking them two at a time, like I always did. Reaching the bottom of the first flight, I quickly looked out the door to see that it was not snowing like they had predicted. Oh well, that was fine with me.

I turned the corner and went down the second, much smaller flight of stairs. Emerging in the hallway, I turned down the left side and walked until I came across the fourth room on the right. Room 1066, to be exact. I walked into the near empty classroom and sat down in my seat in the second column and the back row. I figured that everyone else was still upstairs talking with their friends.

Anyway, I sat there for a few minutes and eventually, the rest of the students and the teacher showed up. The teacher, Mr. Unruh, wasn't one to waste much time, and he immediately jumped into the notes.

"Alright, everyone, time for some notes," he said, turning on the overhead projector. It remained blank for a second or two, and then began to slowly reveal an image: the first slide of one of his note slideshows.

My notebook was already out and ready, but everyone else had yet to do so, and Mr. Unruh took this chance to shut the door and turn off the lights. He left his desk lamp on, and it was just enough light to write by.

I twisted my pencil around in my hands, waiting for everyone to be ready. Finally, it seemed that it was so, and Mr. Unruh began.

"So, if I remember correctly, we left off at right before The Grand Revolution began," he said, clicking a few slides forward, stopping when he reached the slide we stopped at yesterday. "Now the question is why did it start?"

He clicked onto the next slide. "During this time of blind peace and happiness with Pokemon," he said, nearly spitting the last word. I cringed at how he said it; it was so full of hatred. "A man named Trenton Fielder, who was just a little kid at the time and was living in the lap of luxury, had a run in with the true side of Pokemon. He was walking through the forest when a Glaceon walked out of the bushes."

He pointed to the picture on the slide, which showed a picture of a Glaceon. "It was supposedly covered in scratches as if it were in a recent battle, with what and why, we still don't know. Anyway, feeling bad for it, Fielder reached out a hand as an offer of help. That's when the Glaceon bit him and nearly ripped off his hand."

He paused a moment to let us finish writing the notes. I truly hated every minute of this. Any time he mentioned Pokemon Mr. Unruh seemed to hiss it out, as if trying to make it sound evil. Everyone else finally finished, and Mr. Unruh changed the slide.

"Fielder somehow got it off of his hand and was able to run back to his mansion. He was treated for mild blood loss and nearly lost his left hand in the treatment that had to be performed to stop the bleeding. When asked about what attacked him, he told them that it was a wild Glaceon. Apparently blubbering the entire time. He said that the only feature that stood out was a dark patch on its shoulder that was shaped like two overlapping triangles. He made a drawing of the mark once he composed himself, and it looked like this." He motioned at the second picture on the bottom of the page, the first being that of the state of Fielder's hand. It almost reminded me of something that my granddad told me about (the shape, not Fielder's hand, it just reminded me of a bloody ripped hand). Something about a Gym Badge from a place called Sinnoh. I think he called it the Icicle Badge or something like that.

Anyway, Mr. Unruh had again stopped to let students finish writing. Ugh. I hated how some people can't just paraphrase the notes and get done quicker. It really annoyed me.

Back on topic, Mr. Unruh continued to speak. "Well, the years after rolled by, and the Glaceon was never found. During those years, Fielder developed a great fear of Pokemon, fearing that another one would attack him, which slowly developed into hatred, knowing that they were evil creatures. When he finally took over his father's large business, which built computers, he used his influence and money to convince people of the company that Pokemon were indeed evil. He used numerous spies to track Pokemon and take pictures of them doing horrid deeds, like theft, property damage, and even murder in one case."

There were some of these pictures on the slide, accompanying the text. To the untrained eye, they looked genuine. But my eye was trained in spotting a doctored picture when I saw one, and my eye was currently telling me that these were doctored. I could see the faint lines where things were put together and fused. Namely, the Pokemon to the background.

The next slide came and the pictures were yanked away, so I could not tell anything else about them. And since the slide changed, Mr. Unruh started talking again. "Well, using the pictures, Fielder convinced his employees that Pokemon were evil. It didn't take long for them to spread across the Internet, alerting the entire planet to the situation. And out of this, the Gym Revolt came."

A few seconds later, we were done writing, and Unruh went to the next slide. "Basically," he explained, "the Gym Revolt was a group of armed people getting together at the various Gyms across the world, demanding them to be shut down and the Pokemon of the Gym Leader and Gym trainers to be either killed or locked away. In many cities, the Gym leaders put up a fight, but they were swiftly killed along with their Pokemon." I heard a classmate near me mumble "Serves them right." I scowled.

"Some, however just gave up without a fight, preferring that they not see their Pokemon killed," Unruh finished. And on to the next slide we went.

"There's actually a very interesting story about the Gym Leader of this town. He was supposedly just a little older than you at the time of the revolt, maybe just under 20. I believe his name was Vince Rodric."

I recognized the name instantly, seeing as it was my great-granddad's name. I never actually met him, but my granddad told me about him once. However, he never actually said anything about him being a Gym Leader.

I immediately interrupted and blurted out, "Hey, that's my great-granddad's name!"

"How's that, we have the descendant of the man right here in class, learning about his heritage!" Mr. Unruh said, and numerous students stared at me, either in disbelief or hatred. I'm not sure why some hated me, but I figured that it had to do with the fact that I'm the great-grandson of someone who loved Pokemon.

"Back to the story. Well, Vince gave up without a fight, too, but he did show his Pokemon briefly to talk with them. He had some of the scariest looking Pokemon that we have on record." At this, he pressed the next button, and a picture of three Pokemon showed up on the screen. There were a few shrieks from the girls. I had to admit; they were somewhat frightening looking.

"The first one," Mr. Unruh said, pointing at the one that was white and green in color, with strange protrusions from its elbows, "is known as a Gallade. They were supposedly fierce fighters, using the extensions on its elbows as blades, and using its psychic powers to detect enemy attacks. It was said that it often killed many beings just for the joy of it."

Unruh pointed at the next one, which was a strange mix between a scorpion and a bat, and was blue and yellow in color. "This one was called a Gliscor. It is the only 'shiny' that has been recorded in existence. It was said to attack its prey in the face before sucking out all of its blood and leaving the body to rot."

One student raised his hand, and Unruh called on him. "What's a shiny?"

"A shiny is supposedly a very rare version of a certain Pokemon that has a different coloring than that of the normal Pokemon," Mr. Unruh answered.

Then he pointed at the last one, and he stared at it for a second. It was a tall, green, insect-like Pokemon that had a pair of wings on its back and blades for hands. "This one is called Scyther. And it even creeps me out to no end. It used to use its deadly blades to slice its victim multiple times, but not killing it directly, preferring to let the victim die a slow, painful death, while the it would watch in a sick pleasure."

An audible noise was heard as many of the students shivered as their blood ran cold. I, however, did not shiver, mainly because I didn't believe a word he just said. Especially since I remembered a side story in the book about how a Scyther had saved a young boy from falling off of a cliff only a few years before The Grand Revolution. Normally, I'd just let it pass, but since one, it was my great-granddad's Pokemon that he was talking about here, and two, I felt strangely attracted to these Pokemon for reasons unknown even though I didn't even know them, I couldn't let it pass. So, I brought up the story.

I raised my hand and Mr. Unruh pointed to me and said, "Yes, what is your question… um…" Yep, even some of the teachers ignore me to the point where they just flat out don't know my name.

"Kyle. My name is Kyle," I said, disappointed that he didn't know. "Anyway, if Scyther are like that, then why didn't that Scyther that saved that kid from falling off of a cliff just kill him instead?"

"Um…" Mr. Unruh said, caught off guard with the question. He truly had no idea what to say. All of the students were looking at me and Mr. Unruh. They wanted to hear the answer.

"And while we're talking about this, I have another question," I said before Mr. Unruh could answer. All eyes were instantaneously back on me. "If Scyther really do act like that, then why didn't the one that my great-grandfather owned just kill him and run off?"

There were a few murmurs throughout the classroom, and I figured that either they were discussing the possibilities that I was implying or just wondering what the hell I was talking about.

Mr. Unruh finally found his voice and said, "Well, Kyle, there were many mysteries about Pokemon back then, and there are still just as many today…"

"So basically you're telling me that you have no idea why," I said flatly.

"Yes, it's still one of the many unsolved mysteries," Mr. Unruh said with a note of finality. I, however, wasn't done.

"I think that I may know why," I said as he started to turn back to the screen.

"And what do you believe is the answer?" he asked, turning back to face me. Once again, everyone's eyes were on me.

"Alright, this is pretty complex and may be hard to understand, but here goes," I said, letting a little bit of sarcasm show. "I think that the reason that none of these events happened is because Pokemon aren't evil."

Silence. Utter, absolute silence. It was kind of creepy having all of those eyes looking at you while there is no other noise or movement to distract them. Then, finally, Mr. Unruh broke the silence.

And what did he do? He laughed his merry little ass off.

Soon, the rest of the class joined him, figuring that what I said was just a joke. I started to grow angry. I hated it when people laughed at me. It brought up painful memories about life at my old school back in Ebony City.

Finally, the laughter died down and Mr. Unruh was able to compose himself enough to catch a glimpse of my expression. His smile instantly vanished.

"Wait, you were serious?" he asked, and all I did was nod.

More silence. Then he spoke again. "So that's your explanation?"

Another simple nod from me, and another period of silence as I awaited the question that I knew was coming next.

"Well, then, where's your proof?"

I smiled slightly. I was right. That made things so much easier for me since I already had this planned out.

"Well, first off, the fact that if Pokemon really were evil, I'm pretty sure that someone would have figured it out sooner, since we had been living with them for around 300 years before the Grand Revolution."

I paused for a second to let the students discuss it a little. When I continued, they all stopped.

"Second, there were so many trainers that traveled across the entire region, and all of them came back from every trip alive, even though they were traveling with Pokemon."

Another short pause for more assorted mumbling.

"And lastly, just looking at all of the pictures that the book shows of Pokemon doing evil things, I can tell that all of them were edited and digitally tampered with to make it look like Pokemon are stealing things when really it's just a picture of a Pokemon carrying something overlaid onto a picture of a house."

More silence followed, and Mr. Unruh finally came up with a question. "Well then, if Pokemon aren't evil, then why did that Glaceon attack Fielder?"

"You said that the Glaceon looked extremely beaten up, correct?" I asked.

"Yes, that's right."

"Well, then, there's your answer. The Glaceon was probably beaten up by something, most likely human, and when Fielder reached out his hand to comfort her, she thought that he was going to beat her again. So she decided to not let that happen by attacking first by biting."

"Wait, she?" Mr. Unruh asked.

"Yeah, she. Before you ask, I don't know why or how I know, I just do."

Mr. Unruh stood there for a while, contemplating everything. Then it seemed as if he came to a conclusion, because he stood up a little straighter and opened his mouth to speak.

"Well… um… what was your name again?"

I slapped myself in the forehead, and that earned quite a few chuckles around the room. I removed my hand from my face slowly, and then I said, "Kyle."

"Right," Mr. Unruh said. "Well, Kyle, I've studied everything that you've said and I finally understand."

"Really?" I said, glad that he realized what I knew to be the truth.

"Yes, I understand that you are out of your mind."

My happy mood fell and hit the ground, shattering like a vase. I couldn't believe it. I provided all of that evidence and he still didn't believe me!

"What?" I managed to stammer out.

"You heard me. I think that you're crazy," he said.

"But what about all of the evidence I gave you?"

"Made up. Pokemon weren't discovered to be evil until the start of the Grand Revolution because they were good at hiding it. The trainers were able to travel with Pokemon and remain alive because even if they were evil, Pokemon still developed one special link with the one that captured them. And as for the edited pictures, you have no proof there."

"But… But what about the Glaceon?" I desperately added, hoping that I'd be able to stump him.

"It attacked him most likely because it was hurt and not thinking straight, so it forgot that it was supposed to act kind around humans," Mr. Unruh deftly explained, making sure to stress the word it whenever he said it.

"But… But…" I stammered, trying to think of something to say, but I came up with nothing. Then the bell decided that now was the best time to ring, and the students all got up and left. I stood there for a second, and then Mr. Unruh shocked me back to reality by saying, "If I were you, I'd seek some mental help."

He then walked back to his desk, and I gathered my things, still in a daze, and exited the classroom.

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	4. The Clearing

A/N: Well, here we go again! Chapter 3 is up, and with it comes the first Pokemon appearance! And before you send evil comments about my choice, just remember: I didn't choose to use him in the last story I wrote, that was Terminatress's decision. And there is a reason: I'm trying to give my character access to the Pokemon that I use on my Diamond game. You already know Gallade, a shiny Gliscor, and a Scyther are going to be in here, but what will the fourth be? BTW, he'll probably only have four total. Anyway, enjoy, and no flames on my Pokemon choice!

Also, thank you PKMN- Breeder Melody.K., TJay-Drag-Latios'of'the'Cookie, ReLeeS, and Nanashi Chimera for your reviews!

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Chapter Three – The Clearing

The rest of the school day passed without much more anomalies. The only thing that was different was that people were actually paying attention to me.

Of course, it wasn't in the good way. No, far from it.

Let me explain. In our school, rumors spread like wildfire. Whenever something big happens during class, most of the school knows it by two hours later. And since what happened in my World History class was during fifth hour, seventh hour was when everyone knew about it.

Thankfully, nobody asked me any questions. They all preferred to just stand back and look at me while talking with their friends about how crazy I was or why I did what I did.

And it annoyed me to no end.

I hated when I knew people were gossiping about me. I knew that I couldn't do anything, and that bugged me even more. If I went up and confronted them, they'd either ignore me or laugh at me. If I physically attacked them, then to the principal's office I go.

The only option that ended well was to ignore them. And that was extremely hard to do. Especially when the teachers were pulling the same thing as the students.

Isn't my school just the best at making people feel good?

But I personally thanked Mew when the final bell rang. (I think that it's a much better god/goddess figure than Arceus. I wonder if any of those legendary Pokemon still exist…) I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

I half walked half ran out of the school's back door and noticed that it still wasn't snowing. Still no personal loss for me. I truthfully didn't like snow too much. I didn't hate it, but nor did I like it. Why? I had a bad experience with snow when I was about nine. As for what happened, let's just say that a snowdrift, a joking uncle, and going shirtless don't go together too well.

I actually felt happier to be out of there and in the woods. You see, my house is pretty close to the back of the high school, and since the only thing separating them are the woods, I made a trail and I walk to and from school.

And the best part of this trail is the little clearing that branches off of the path. I usually stop by here after school and clear my head. Then, if the weather is alright, I do my homework there. My granddad doesn't mind, he knows where to find me.

I should elaborate on why I live with my granddad. I should go into an in depth story on the events that led to this. But I really don't want to remember said events. They still haunted me sometimes.

I hustled down the path that I had made, not taking the time to enjoy the nature around me. I was in too much of a hurry to get away from the school to care much for the nature.

Upon arriving at the branch in the trail where one path led home and the other led to the clearing, I took the latter path and followed it for the short distance it covered. I walked slower this time, seeing as I was a fair amount of distance from the school. I doubted that anyone would follow me this far.

The clearing revealed itself and I took a second to scan it to see if anything was moved or changed. There was the fallen tree that I used as a bench. The stump that I used for a desk sat in front of it, the sides covered with moss. The trees created a thick circle around the clearing, making it hard to see from a distance. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was a small pile of twigs, grass, and other assorted natural items loosely collected in the hollow end of the fallen tree.

I assumed that the wind had just blown the things into the tree, and sat down, glad that nothing of importance had been removed. I calmly surveyed the surroundings, allowing myself to relax and calm down. That was the main thing that I liked about this clearing: it let me regroup after a day of being ignored by everyone but Lizzy.

I sat there for a few minutes, thinking and relaxing, completely ignoring the obvious chill in the air. It was a great feeling, just being outdoors and surrounded by nature. So much better than the huge, bustling Calbri City, which was the closest city.

I was so captured by the way I felt that I longed to remain here for much longer. But I knew that doing nothing was a huge waste, so I decided to start that math homework that I couldn't concentrate on earlier. Before that whole huge, ugly mess that occurred in World History.

As I set my backpack onto the ground, I heard a quiet rustling sound. I couldn't tell where it came from, so I just ignored it. However, it became impossible to ignore when I heard it a second time as I unzipped my bag.

I looked up and scanned the area. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the clearing, so I scanned the trees. Another short sound, this time it was more like a twig snapping. This time, I was able to tell where it was coming from, and it happened to be from behind me.

I whirled around and saw… nothing. But I did see a bush shake, if only briefly. I quietly walked over to it, and with each step, a new picture of what was behind it jumped into my mind. First, there was the image of some kid from school, spying on me. Then, the thought of a stranger who was stalking me.

As I got to be only a few steps from the bush, I imagined a killer hiding behind it with a rusty knife or a shotgun, waiting to kill me. I quickly shook the image from my mind, reassuring myself that it was just my overactive imagination. Still, I felt slightly fearful in spite of myself as I pushed aside the top of the bush, revealing the perpetrator.

There wasn't a kid from school, nor a stalker or killer hiding behind the bush. In fact, the creature wasn't even a human. Nor was it an animal. It looked like a small, brown fox in every way. A large, bushy brown tail with a white tip, four legged stance, large ears, and a little muzzle. The only feature that distinguished it to be different was the collar of white fur that surrounded its neck. It was obviously malnourished, seeing as its ribs were visible, and it looked extremely frightened. And it had good reason to be, since I was a human, and humans these days treated creatures like these so badly.

If you haven't figured out by now, the creature that I am describing is a Pokemon. An Eevee, to be specific.

I kneeled down and reached out a hand to the scared Pokemon, and it tensed up. For a moment, I though of Fielder and the Glaceon that had bitten his hand. I wondered if the Eevee might do the same, so I stopped my hand from moving any further. I watched the Eevee, but it made no signs of attack. So I reached out all of the way, touching the Eevee on its head. I softly ran my hand down its neck, through the puffs of fur on its neck, and over its back.

It loosened its muscles and looked up at me. I smiled a careful smile, trying to make it look cheerful and reassuring at the same time. The Eevee looked thoughtful for a second, and I stroked its fur again. It edged closer to me. Another stroke of its fur, and another step it took closer to me. Soon, it- no, he, I'm pretty sure that it's a he- was right up next to me.

I quickly put my hands around him, picking him up. He looked frightened at the sudden movement, but when I carefully held him in my arms, he calmed right down. He might have also been scared of how fast I lifted him. He was much less heavy than I expected. I figured that it was because of how thin he was.

I carried him back to the log and sat down on it, still cradling him. When I sat, I put him down on my lap. He readjusted himself, and sat facing me. Our eyes met, and I saw for a brief second all of the fear that he had lived with, not knowing if he would live to see another day. The moment passed, and I immediately felt horrible. I thought that I had a bad life since I had no friends besides Lizzy, but this little Eevee here had little to no food, barely any shelter, and was hated by pretty much everyone.

"Don't worry, Eevee, I'll make sure that you stay safe and sound," I said, stroking Eevee's shaking body, more to confirm my actions to me than to comfort him.

"Vee," he said weakly. I looked back at him and remembered how thin he was.

"Starting with food," I said. His ears perked right up at the mention of food.

I truthfully had no idea in the world about what an Eevee normally eats. But I did know that I had an apple in my backpack, leftover from lunch. I hoped that he would like it, but then I thought, 'He'd probably eat leaves right now if he had to."

So I removed the apple from my bag, and held it up to Eevee. Absolute joy spread across his face, and he immediately jumped forward and took a large bite out of it.

Unfortunately, he forgot about chewing it and tried to swallow it whole. Which resulted in him choking. He started to hack and cough uncontrollably, and I sprang into action. I tried to remember what the animal care class that I took said to do in this situation. Don't ask me why I took it, it wasn't my idea.

Then I remembered that it said to try to pull the object out of the animal's mouth using tweezers or your hand. And since there were no tweezers in sight, I was going to have to use my hand.

Of course, there was the fact that this was how to save a choking dog, not a choking Eevee. But since there was no other option, I pulled open his mouth and looked in.

Luckily, I could see the apple chunk, and it wasn't too far back in Eevee's mouth. I stuck my finger in, managing to just barely hook around the apple. I carefully maneuvered my finger in such a way as to pull the apple chunk out but not push it any farther in.

Thankfully, I was able to successfully remove the piece of apple without needing to use the Heimlich Maneuver. I was extremely glad for that, since I was never any good at performing it.

As it turns out, Eevee was glad that I removed it as well. Probably because of the fact that he could breathe again. That tends to cheer anyone up.

I looked at him, the piece of apple still in my hand, and said, "How ironic would that have been? The time you finally get food after so long of living without it, you choke to death because you tried to eat it too fast!"

Eevee laughed at this, knowing that I was just joking around with him. He looked genuinely happy, not a fake happiness that he put on whenever he was around humans. Then I thought, 'Hey, maybe I can actually show proof that Pokemon aren't evil using this Eevee.' It was an exciting thought, travelling around, showing people how Pokemon really acted. 'It might be kind of like I'm pioneering the first trainer adventure since the start of the Grand Revolution,' I thought.

Eevee had stopped laughing and I held the apple chunk up to his mouth. "This time, remember to chew it," I said, and Eevee nodded, scooping up the apple piece in his mouth, slowly chewing it. He finished that bite, and then he began to devour the rest of the apple that was sitting in my lap. In my rush to save Eevee, I must have accidentally dropped it.

Soon, the only part left of the apple was the seeds and the stem, which Eevee made sure not to eat. I saved the seeds, hoping that I might be able to plant an apple tree in the clearing. I threw the stem into the trees, and I returned to focusing my attention on Eevee. He had jumped down off of my lap and was standing next to the hollow end of the log where the twigs and grass were.

"Oh, so you brought those things here," I said, and Eevee nodded. But he didn't look very happy anymore, choosing to wear a face of concern. Seeing that, I became concerned. I walked down to the end of the log and looked in.

The first thing that I noticed was the fact that there wasn't much space. On the bottom of the hollow space, the assortment of twigs and grass covered up the entire area. Overall, it didn't look too comfortable or warm, even for a foot tall, fur covered Pokemon. Eevee looked up at me, as if to exaggerate the fact that he hated the space.

I thought briefly of taking him home, but I wasn't sure how that would end up. My granddad loves Pokemon, but what if someone found out about Eevee? They'd probably arrest Granddad and me, and he probably wouldn't want to risk that. I could run to my house and grab something to increase the space in the log as well as something soft and warm to put in it. But what if Granddad did let me keep Eevee in the house?

I decided that I should take Eevee with me back to the house and ask Granddad what he wanted to do. That way, if he would let Eevee stay, I could bring him into the house, and if he wouldn't let Eevee stay, I could just grab a shovel or something that could be used to hollow out the log further and a blanket for Eevee to sleep on.

So I reached down and picked Eevee up and said, "Well, maybe I can get my Granddad to let me keep you in my house, but if not, I'll grab a shovel and hollow out the log further, and put a nice warm blanket in there for you to sleep on. How's that sound?"

"Eevee!" he said excitedly. I couldn't blame him, since there was the chance of living in a nice warm house.

"Then it's settled," I said, nodding. "To my house we go!"

I walked back to my bag and slung it onto my back, all the while carrying Eevee. I began to walk out of the clearing, when I felt something hit my nose. It was wet and cold, but it wasn't rain, since it landed softly on my nose.

I looked up and saw that the clouds looked exceptionally grayer than when I left school. Then I looked back down and scanned around the area. I saw small white dots floating slowly down and realized that it was snowing, if only ever so lightly. I guess that the weather forecaster was right after all.

Then I turned to Eevee who was looking at the snow float down, mystified by it. Out of nowhere, I began to wonder about whether I owned him or not. Technically, I was going to be caring for him and feeding hem from now on, and I figured that made me his owner. And that meant he needed a name.

"Well, Eevee," I said, regaining his attention, "I guess that I am your new owner, and that means that you'll be needing a name."

He didn't disagree with the concept of a name, and so I continued. "Well, seeing as you are so captured by snow, I'll name you Koyuki."

He looked at me with a questioning look. He probably had no idea what it meant. "It means light snow in some foreign language, but I can't remember which," I explained. "Seeing as you are fascinated by snow, I think it fits pretty well. How do you like it?"

Eevee's look of confusion changed to one of understanding and agreement. I figured that he liked it pretty well.

"Then from this point on, thou shalt be known as Koyuki," I said, using a mock Middle Ages accent. "May thy name servest thou well."

Koyuki tried to suppress his laughter, but it proved too much for him as a few chuckles broke free, and then he began laughing out loud.

"Hey, that's not nice!" I said, this time faking an insulted tone. "Don't laugh at others because of how they talk!"

He fell silent, and then we both began laughing. Our laughter lasted for about a minute or so, and we looked at each other. I looked into Koyuki's eyes again, and the fear and worry was long gone, replaced with happiness. I was glad that he felt better, and even happier that I had caused him to feel better.

I exited the clearing, Koyuki still in my arms, felling much better than how I felt upon entering it. I traveled down the makeshift trail, and the snow began to come down faster, but not harder. Soon the air was fluttering with the white flakes, and for the first time since that day when I was thrown into a snow bank without a shirt, the snow brought happiness with it.

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	5. Granddad

A/N: Wow, I must really love you guys! Two updates within two days! Enjoy, and I hope you like Granddad! He's a fun character to write.

And thanks to ReLeesand Nanashi Chimera for reviewing! I know that I probably didn't give most of you enough time to review last chapter, so you can just include it in your review for this one. And a very special thanks to TJay-Drag-Latios'of'the'Cookie for being my beta!

Also, on a side note, I think that I found a theme song for my story. It's called Behind Closed Doors by Rise Against. I advise you to go check it out and tell me if you think that it fits the story well or not. And if you don't, I have my ways of finding out, and you won't like what I'll do to you. It will leave you in a state of shock and horror. Kind of like this poor smiley here. O.o

* * *

Chapter Four – Granddad

The trail didn't really bring any new discoveries or interesting developments. And if it did, then I didn't notice them. For all I know, a train full of butter and ice cream with a flying pig for a driver could have rushed past me and I wouldn't have noticed it.

OK, so that's probably not true, but you get the idea.

Anyway, I was so distracted from the things around me because of the little bundle of brown and white fluff in my arms. Koyuki was still fascinated by the snow falling around us. It wasn't coming down any faster than it had since I left the clearing, but it was still capturing his attention. And he was capturing mine.

You see, this was my first actual encounter with a real live Pokemon. Sure, I'd seen numerous pictures of them, but half of them had probably been doctored. And seeing a picture is nothing like seeing the real thing.

First off, you can't feel the object in the picture. Second, you can't talk with a picture as well as you can with the real living object. Well, actually, you could talk to a picture, but you'd be marked as a crazy for the rest of your life.

And most importantly, you can't interact with a picture. Stroking the fur of an Eevee is nothing like looking at a picture of one, I'll tell you that.

As I approached my house, I suddenly remembered my next door neighbor, Becky Downs. They were very nice neighbors, her and her husband Bob Downs, and Becky would greet me as I walked through my backyard to the house. However, they were terribly afraid of Pokemon. Not hating of them, just afraid.

If she saw Koyuki as I walked through my backyard, Becky would probably call the police or something. And that wouldn't end well for Koyuki.

I stopped walking, and Koyuki looked up at me curiously. I told him, "My neighbors. If they see you, they might call someone to get rid of you."

He still looked confused, so I shifted him around in my arms so that my right arm was free. With it, I made the universal sign for death: drawing my arm across my throat. He understood that one, and he began to shake again.

"Don't worry, Koyuki, I won't let that happen," I assured him. "But if you still want to come home with me, you'll have to switch spots with my binder in my backpack."

He nodded, and I set him down, then took off my bag and set it down next to him. Pulling open the main pouch, I lifted out my binder and set it on the ground. Then, I carefully picked up Koyuki and lowered him into the pouch. He sat in the front of the pouch, looking up at me.

"Don't worry, you won't have to stay in there for too long," I said, patting his head. He shot me a look that said, "I had better not have to." I smiled and pulled the string tight, cutting off my view of him.

I picked up the bag and carefully slung it over my shoulder, making sure not to move it too quickly. Then I bent down to pick up my binder, and I held it in my hand. I suddenly missed holding Koyuki. I sighed and told myself that he wasn't gone, he was still with me, just not where I could see him or pet him.

I traveled the rest of the trail, which wasn't much of a journey. I was only a few feet from the edge of the woods when I remembered my neighbor. I emerged from the forest and looked over at the Downs' yard. Becky was sitting where she always was, right underneath the large tree in their yard, reading a book and wrapped in a blanket. I smiled. Not even a light snow or chilly winds could keep her from reading outside.

She must have heard my footsteps as I walked through my backyard, since she put her book down and turned around to greet me. "Hi there, Kyle!" she said, cheery as always. "How was school?"

"Oh, it was fine," I lied.

"Why is there fur all over your jacket?" she asked.

"What?" I asked, looking down at my chest. 'Oh, crap, she's right,' I thought, noticing Koyuki's fur covering my entire front. 'How am I going to explain this?'

"Well, we, uh, were studying how, um, similar animals evolved to have different features in Biology, and my teacher brought in some, uh, fur samples of different canine animals. And one of my classmates dumped one of the bags of fur all over my body." Oh, dear Mew please let her buy that!

"What kind of fur was it?" Becky asked.

"Um… I think that it was some sort of fox or something," I said, still praying that she believed me.

"Well, I'm sure that they'll let up on you soon enough," she said. "Just give them some time and they'll get bored and prank someone else."

I sighed. She actually believed that huge lie. "I sure hope so," I said, keeping up the act.

She smiled at me and said, "They will, honey." Then she turned back around and continued reading. I sighed again, thankful that I was able to make it through that close call. Voting not to take my chances and stay outside with her any longer, I hurried into the house.

I quickly walked through the door, which was already unlocked thanks to my Granddad. He always made sure to unlock that door so that I could get into the house without needing a key. I shut the door and locked it, then I turned and surveyed the room.

It wasn't too fancy, just your average living room. Two chairs and a couch adorned the room, all slightly turned in towards the TV. There was an ottoman in front of one chair, and a coffee table sat before the couch. A clock hung from the wall above the wall.

Noticing that my granddad wasn't here, I called out, "Granddad, I'm home!"

"Hey, Kyle, how was school?" Granddad asked as he came around the corner. He was your typical granddad, gray hair, a few wrinkles, nothing much stood out about him. He was around 65, but sometimes he had the attitude of a happy kid. But no matter how he acted, his eyes always shone with some glint of hope and happiness. He was that kind of person who you could never stay mad at, no matter what he did.

"How do you think it was?" I questioned jokingly.

"Ah, I see," he said, nodding. "Not too good, huh?"

"Nope," I confirmed him. "In World History, we started learning about the Grand Revolution. We got as far as the Gym Revolt and the Gym leader of this town," I said, emphasizing the last bit.

"Ah, so you know about your great-granddad," he said as he sat down in his favorite chair, his mood falling slightly. I sat down on the couch, taking my backpack off and setting it down next to me with my binder. "Are you angry that I never told you?"

"Not really angry, just disappointed and confused," I said. Sighing, I asked "Why didn't you tell me about him?"

"Because, if you knew, you might have said something about him during school, and who knows what might have happened," Granddad said. "Of course, I should have known that they would teach you kids about in school. It wasn't my best decision."

"Hey, it was better than your decision to raise me," I joked. "Look where that's gotten you."

We both began laughing at the statement. My Granddad and I could never stay in a serious conversation for very long before one of us made a joke. Usually it was he that made the joke, but finding Koyuki put me in a good mood that day, and that prompted me to be the joker.

Speaking of Koyuki, he chose then to re-establish his existence by yipping loudly.

"What was that?" my Granddad asked, looking around the room.

"Oh, right, I have to ask you something," I said, lifting my backpack off of the couch and setting it on the floor. I quickly opened the pouch and pulled out a very impatient looking Koyuki.

"Is that an Eevee?" Granddad asked. I nodded, and he suddenly got a far off look in his eyes. "I haven't seen an Eevee in so long…"

"Vee?" Koyuki asked, wearing a confused face, and I shrugged. "I have no idea what he's doing," I said, just as confused. I waved a hand in front of his face, and suddenly, he snapped out of his trance or whatever he was in.

"Wha? Where am I?" he asked, looking around. He spotted Koyuki and me, and a look of understanding dawned on his face. "Oh, yes, my grandson has brought home a wild Eevee. I guess that would explain all of the fur on your jacket." He paused, and then sighed. "I knew this day would come."

"Huh? What's that mean?" I asked.

He sighed again. "Well, Kyle, let me explain. Back when your father was around your age, he went out to play in the woods behind our house. There were no dangerous wild animals out there, so we let him go, seeing as he was 15 and could take care of himself."

"So what happened?" I asked.

"He came back after a few minutes with a small bunch of orange and black fur. It was extremely thin and the fur was missing in some places. Before you ask, no it wasn't a tiger cub. Do you remember what a Growlithe is?"

I quickly imagined the small canine Pokemon with its tiger-like pelt and white, fluffy tail and chest fur. "Yeah, I do."

"Well, that's what your dad brought home. He had found a starving Growlithe pup and asked if he could keep it and nurse it back to health. We let him, your Grandma and I, as long as he kept it well hidden."

"And what happened?" I asked.

"Calm down, there, I was getting to that," he said. "Jeez, what is it with kids these days not having patience?"

A moment of silence followed, and we began to laugh again. My Granddad could never insult family, and whenever he did, we all knew that he was joking around. And even if he did make you angry, you couldn't ever stay mad at him.

"Anyway, he was able to keep the little Growlithe secret for a year or so, and every day of that time, your father grew ever more attached to him." He sighed, "Then, sometime in June, the Growlithe was outside, running around in the woods with your dad chasing him around. Our neighbor had overheard the barking that the Growlithe was making and was beginning to grow tired of it. So, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He took a shotgun and went out into the wood, and as soon as he saw the Growlithe, he shot it, killing it on the spot. Your dad was devastated."

My mind was swirling. My dad brought home a Growlithe just to have it eventually killed? I looked down at Koyuki, who was silently taking it all in. I wondered if I could keep him safe if I kept him in the house. I thought of just making him a more comfortable place to stay in the clearing, but then I remembered how happy he had looked when I mentioned him living in the house. I couldn't deny him that.

"So are you not going to let him stay here?" I asked.

"Not exactly," Granddad said. "Technically, since you found that Eevee, it's yours to keep and decide what to do with, not mine."

"Really?" I asked. "Well, I'm pretty sure that I should ask Koyuki here, but I think that I already know that he wants to stay in the house with us."

Koyuki nodded vigorously and yipped his agreement.

"Well, how's that?" my Granddad said. "You've even given him a name. Any specific reason for why you called him Koyuki?"

"Well, I remember you telling me that it meant light snow, and since Koyuki is so interested in snow, I think that it fits pretty well. Koyuki agreed with me, so that's what I named him."

"Ah, I see," Granddad said. "I think it fits quite well, too."

I placed Koyuki on my shoulder and stood up. I walked over to my Granddad and gave him a hug. Yes, I gave him a hug. So sue me for loving my Granddad.

"Thanks for this, Granddad," I said as I hugged him. Then we broke the embrace and Koyuki jumped off of my shoulder, landed on my Granddad, and licked his face to show his appreciation.

Granddad laughed and said, "Hey, OK, I get it!" Koyuki stopped and sat down on my Granddad's lap.

I picked him up and sat him back on my shoulder, and he licked my face a few times as well.

"Just remember to keep him safe," Granddad said.

I nodded, thanked him once more, and ran off to my room.

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	6. Weekend Antics

A/N: Aloha people of FanFiction! I hope that you're ready for new stuff from me! This will probably be the last chapter before stuff gets really good. I hope that you like!

And thank you to Wings that bring the fate, Nanashi Chimera, theking6, and general andrew for your reviews, you all are so great! And great thanks to my beta, TJay-Dragg-Latios'of'the'Cookie, yet again! Let's have a round of applause! *claps wildly like a crazy person* WHOO!

By the way, if you didn't check out the song I chose for the story's theme song, go check it out on Youtube now! It's called Behind Closed Doors by Rise Against. Look it up or I will NOT hesitate to hunt you down and have my crazy friend Ross kill you. And believe me, that won't be pleasant.

Now, onto the story!

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Chapter Five – Weekend Antics

A few hours after I got home and introduced Koyuki to Granddad, Grandma finally got home from work. She was the 'working' adult of the family. Anyway, I introduced her to Koyuki, and she began to recite the same story that Granddad had told me.

I remember she had said, "So much like your father. You know, he brought home a Pokemon when he was around your age as well. It was a little Growlithe-"

"Lucy, he's already heard the story," Granddad interrupted.

"He has?" Grandma asked. "From who?"

"Who do you think?" both Granddad and I asked in unison.

"Well, it seems that you're so much like your Grandfather as well," Grandma said. We then proceeded to laugh for a few seconds.

Then Koyuki greeted Grandma the same way that he greeted Granddad. By licking her to death.

And another round of laughter breaks out all around.

As for the rest of the weekend, it was amazing. It seemed that Koyuki and Granddad really got along well. I hadn't seen Granddad so happy in so long. We played catch (even though we had to stay inside the house) and various other games. We joked around endlessly.

In short, it was probably the best weekend ever.

Koyuki ate like crazy, but who would blame him? We weighed him the day I found him and he only weighed 7 pounds, half of what he should have weighed, according to Granddad. We hoped that he could regain the other 7 pounds soon. We also hoped that his fur would grow back in the places that it had been ripped off.

The only thing that we didn't want to change was his cheery disposition. He was happy and bouncy all the time, and he only stopped being this way when he was confused or curious. I remember thinking about if he were ever to evolve into an Umbreon, would he still be as bouncy and cheery? It's kind of hard to imagine a cheerful Dark type Pokemon.

Anyway, back to the main story. Even though it was a great weekend, there was one bad thing about the weekend. Put simply, it ended.

On Sunday night, right before I went to bed, I set my alarms like usual. I flopped down on my bed next to Koyuki, who had taken to sleeping on my pillow. He was wearing a look of simple confusion and looking at my alarm clock.

I put two and two together and explained. "That's my alarm clock, Koyuki. It wakes me up early enough in the morning so that I can get ready for school."

Still confused, this time most likely at the concept of school, he said, "Eevee?"

"School is where a bunch of adults teach us various things that are supposed to help us in life," I told him. "Though the truth is that I'll probably never actually use half of what I'm being taught."

Koyuki chuckled at the irony, and I found myself smiling. Not at what I said, but at Koyuki's reaction. He was always cheerful, and it always made me feel better to be around him.

Koyuki stopped chuckling and I stroked his fur. I remembered briefly how thin and scraggly he looked when I found him. Now, he looked nothing like the way he did back then. His ribs were only barely visible, and the missing patches of fur were almost completely covered up. I patted him one last time and said, "Goodnight, Koyuki."

"Vee."

I turned off the hanging lamp next to my bed and lay down. Koyuki curled up into a ball right next to my head. I stared out into the darkness that surrounded me for a few minutes, and soon I was able to make out various shapes. The four shelves on the far wall, my computer monitor, my desk, and the ceiling fan were the first things that I recognized, and soon I was able to see most of the clutter on my desk: a few books of various size, my printer, my huge jar of jawbreakers that my other Grandma got for me, and my calendar.

I tried closing my eyes help me get to sleep, but that didn't help at all. I had always had a problem getting to sleep, no matter where I was. I turned my head and looked at Koyuki, who was already fast asleep.

"Lucky," I whispered. He didn't do anything, so I just turned away to face the other side of my bed.

I looked up at the clock, and it said 10:18 on it in big, bright red numbers. I knew I had to get up at around 6:30 if I wanted to have enough time to get ready, so that left me with 8 hours and 12 minutes of sleep if I fell asleep right then.

Of course, I was never that lucky, and it always took me around half an hour or more just to get to sleep. I think that there's an official disorder for this, but I can't remember the name for it.

And so I lay there, waiting for sleep to take me. And let me tell you, a lot of strange thoughts can pass through one's head in that state. I vaguely remember thinking about what happened at school on Friday, then about my great-granddad, and then about the pictures of the Pokemon that he owned.

But the weirdest thing I thought about was Mew. I could have sworn that I actually saw it floating in my room looking down on me at one point, but then I blinked, and it was gone.

Right after that, I promptly fell asleep.

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I woke up the next morning before my alarm clock sounded, which was weird. I almost always wake up before it. The only reason I set it is to give me a time to force myself to get up.

I looked at the clock and it said 6:27. Only three minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off. I looked to the other side of me and saw that Koyuki was still fast asleep, his little Eevee body curled up into a ball. I have to admit, that little guy was cute.

I smiled briefly and returned to staring at the ceiling. I thought of how today might end up being. Probably like Friday after fifth hour. Just a bunch of idiots staring at me and blatantly ignoring the fact that I had feelings. I sighed and told myself that I'd just have to get used to it. This was the consequence of my actions, and therefore was my fault.

Just then, my alarm went off. It was followed by a quick "Vee!" of surprise, and then my vision was immediately blocked by a bunch of brown fur.

Koyuki must have been startled by the sudden noise, and he jumped in response to it. Unfortunately, he landed on my face, startling me as well.

"Ah! Koyuki, get off of my face!" I shouted, ignoring the fact that my grandparents were both probably still asleep. I reached up and pulled the shivering mass of fur off of my face. He was shivering like crazy, obviously scared near to death by the alarm. Seeing him this scared immediately wiped any anger that I might have been feeling away.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Koyuki," I apologized, "I had no idea that my alarm would scare you this bad."

He stopped shivering and I set him down. He glanced over at the alarm clock, which was still going off. I reached over and shut it off, and Koyuki looked at me appreciatively.

"Alright, from now on, I promise not to use that alarm clock ever again," I promised. Koyuki looked relieved that he wouldn't be scared by it.

Then I smiled evilly. "From now on, I declare Koyuki to be my official alarm clock," I said, and all of a sudden, Koyuki's face went from relief to shock, then to anger, and then it finally settled on a sly smile. I figured that he thought that I was joking.

Unluckily for him, I wasn't. "I mean it Koyuki. If you don't want to hear the alarm clock, you're going to have to be the one to wake me up."

His face right then was priceless. Absolutely priceless. It was a mix of unhappiness, anger, shock, and disbelief. I couldn't resist laughing out loud. He shot me a look of anger, and I said, "It's your face! It just looked so hilarious right there!"

His face didn't change an ounce, and I patted his head. "Don't worry, I know that you don't want to wake me up," I said. "But I'm sure that you'll get used to it."

I stood up, and Koyuki yipped at me. I grabbed my clothes and rushed out the door, shutting it before he could follow me. I heard a soft "thud" as Koyuki hit the door, not expecting me to shut it and stop his attempt to chase me. A feeble "Vee" came from behind the door, assuring me that he'd be just fine.

I walked to my bathroom and took a quick shower, got changed, brushed my teeth, and did all of the many other morning things. Minus eating breakfast. I never had enough time.

I returned to my room to grab my backpack and say a quick goodbye to Koyuki, but when I entered, I saw that he had already fallen asleep again. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and walked over to my bed.

Koyuki was lying peacefully on my pillow, deeply immersed in sleep. I scratched his ear and watched as a little smile formed on his face. "See you later, Koyuki," I whispered to him before I turned and exited the room, shutting the door as quietly as I could.

I exited the house and walked down the little trail that led to the school. The light was dim, but it was enough to allow me to see where I was going. Soon, I emerged from the woods and looked up at the school. I took a deep breath in and let it out. "Here I go," I said to no one in particular. I walked forward towards the school.

'Please, Mew, let today be a good one,' I thought.

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	7. Optimism

A/N: Well, it's that time once again! Please enjoy, and let me tell you, this one was pretty fun to write. I was able to vent some of my own anger into this.

And onto the reviewer thanks! Thank you to TJay-Drag-Latios'of'the'Cookie, Karozon (2x), Ketchum Kid (), theking6 (2x), Nanashi Chimera, ReLees (2x), and Wings that bring the fate for your reviews. And one more thanks to TJay for betaing!

Also, since Ketchum Kid () didn't leave a signed review, I'm going to reply to his review here. So if you're not Ketchum Kid (), please feel free to skip straight to the story.

-Thanks for your compliments! I'm actually trying to keep chapters a bit shorter to allow myself to update easier and quicker. And this story is actually set in the Pokemon World from the start, it just had a horrible war in which Pokemon were nearly wiped out. And don't worry about me not finishing it, I'm the kind of person that won't give up on something until it is done. This story will be finished, no matter what. That goes for my other story, too. It's just on temporary hiatus.

Now, onto the story!

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Chapter Six – Optimism

I guess that Mew wasn't listening to me earlier.

The day started off reasonably well, with first and second hour passing normally enough. I let my guard down after that, but of course, that's when irony decided to strike and everything goes bad.

My guess is that either one, fate hates me, or two, that in the early morning, everyone temporarily forgets what happened with a certain person until a few hours after waking up. And third hour must have been when the memories of Friday flooded back into everyone else's heads.

Anyway, in third hour, everyone stared at me with daggers in their eyes. And if they could really shoot daggers out of their eyes (which I think would be horrifically painful), then there would be about one hundred daggers flying across the room straight at me. Which, in case you didn't know, would hurt like no other.

The worst part was that even though the teacher was trying to stop it so that she could teach, I couldn't help but notice that she was staring at me for a while, too.

I'll say it once more. This school sucks great big spherical objects.

I'm just glad that Lizzy wasn't following the crowd. She actually was looking at me like she was caring and not wanting to kill me for what I said.

Which makes me wonder: why is everyone acting as if they want to kill me? I said that Pokemon weren't evil, that's it! I guess that they were just afraid of having their beliefs challenged and proven wrong. Why is it that whenever someone looks for change, so many treat it as treason?

After third hour, I tried to get out of that room as fast as possible. Unfortunately, it wasn't much better in the hallways.

People were giving me quite a large area of space around me, which would have been nice if it were for a different reason. The reason for all of the avoidance was the fact that no one wanted to be near me.

It was actually kind of nice, once I blocked out the reason behind it. That is, until some jerk walks straight in and purposely bumps into me, nearly knocking me down. I do my best to ignore it and walk off, but it sure was a challenge. So many people laughing at me and high-fiving the jerk that bumped into me. My guess is that he was some sort of jock. I hate jocks.

But it wasn't worth the punishment that I would receive, so instead of clocking the bastard, I walked off.

Fourth hour seemed so much like third that it wasn't even funny. There were so many eyes shooting daggers at me, and the only eyes that never contained that look were Lizzy's. Or at least I thought.

I looked at the crowd of angry eyes and immediately spotted Lizzy's soft blue, caring eyes. But upon further inspection, I saw another pair of kind eyes.

I never got to see whom they belonged to, seeing as the teacher spoke up, gaining everyone's attention, including mine. When I looked back, all eyes were no longer angry, so I couldn't pick out the right pair.

Finally, the lunch bell rang, signaling a temporary break from my hellish torture and a chance to talk with Lizzy about this entire crazy thing.

So, I went through the food court, grabbing everything I normally eat. It seemed that the news of what I did never reached the lunch ladies, seeing as they all treated me like they normally did. That was a definite plus to my day.

So, let's add up the sum so far of how my day is going. Let's see, I woke up to Koyuki = +20. General ignorance for first two hours = +15. Hatred during third and fourth hour = -30. Jerk bumping into me in the hallway = -15. Having a chance of someone besides Lizzy who cares for me = +15. So, add that all up and we get… +5. Plus the kind-ish lunch ladies is a total of +15.

So far, not too horrible. Of course, then cruel fate catches up to me.

Right before I'm about to sit down at my table, that same jock that bumped into me in the hall decides to show his ugly face again. This time, with his crowd of equally as stupid jock friends. Great.

"Hey look, it's the Pokemon lover!" the main jock said in a mocking tone.

"Got any more proof that Pokemon aren't evil?" the next jock said.

I did my best to ignore them and walk away. I really did. But they just couldn't let it rest at that. Nope, they had to make my life even more miserable.

Right as I walk past him, jock one (I'll just address them by number since I don't know their names) knocks my tray right out of my hands. The blue plastic tumbles to the floor, spilling taco and slush all over the floor. The tray landed with a loud clatter that attracted the attention of pretty much everyone in the room.

I stood there, forcing myself to keep a blank, uninterested look on my face, and when I try to walk away again, two of the other jocks block my path.

I turned around to a sneering jock one. "Well, now what does our little Pokemon friend here have to say?" he says, nearly spitting the word Pokemon. No, wait, he did spit it, I distinctly remember feeling spit hit my forehead.

Again, I stay silent, hoping that they'll just loose interest. They, however, were definitely not going to be leaving anytime soon.

When I continued to say nothing, jock one started laughing. The rest of the jocks followed suit, and when jock one held up his hand, they all stopped. It was easy to tell that this guy was the leader of the brain-dead idiots who were blocking my exits.

Most of the teachers were now watching this entire event, but none of them were even thinking about breaking it up. They just stood there, like the students, taking it all in.

"Apparently this guy doesn't have anything to say, huh, guys?" jock one asked. "Maybe he just needs a little bit of convincing."

Luckily, he didn't have much to start out with. He shoved me, but it wasn't hard enough to knock me to the ground. However, he had made physical contact first. Meaning that if I made physical contact right now, I could say that it was in self-defense.

And so I smirked, which abruptly wiped the look off of jock one's face. "Well, I don't have anything to say, but I do have another way to communicate," I said. I knew that this would get messy fast, so I prepared to bolt as soon as I did it.

After I was sure that I was perfectly ready, I swiftly brought my leg up and kicked the jock. Hard. Where, you may ask? Well, let's just say that he may not be able to reproduce if that kick did enough damage.

The jock fell to the floor, clutching his privates, not even making a noise. He was in too much pain to make a noise after that kick.

Strangely, the other jocks didn't do what I expected them to do. I expected them to try and get me, but they just backed off, covering their privates, not wanting to risk a kick to the crotch themselves.

Finally, one of the teachers decided to actually do something. He ran up to the injured jock and asked him if he was alright, though he already knew that the answer was no.

The teacher told the other jocks to get jock one to the nurse pronto. Then he turned to me.

"You are in a lot of trouble," he said, the sternest look on his face.

For some reason, I found this to be funny. I started to laugh, and quite loudly. Once I stopped, I saw the teacher's face, and it was a mix of creeped out and angry.

"And what punishment could you possibly give me to make my life any worse?" I said. "My life is already a living hell. Everyone hates me, including you teachers, and some people even gang up on me. Yet when I fight back, I'm the one punished." I looked up at the teacher, then around the room. Everyone was staring at me like I was some crazy nutbag.

"The only people that really care for me are Lizzy over there, my Grandma and Granddad, and Koyuki," I practically yelled. "In fact, Koyuki would love me no matter what I do, because that's what Pokemon do! They love their friends no matter what!"

The entire room of students gasped. "Yeah, that's right, Koyuki is a Pokemon. And guess what? I found him last weekend, and I played with him, and I'm still alive today!"

I paused and scanned the room, seeing horrified and scared faces all around. I turned back to the teacher once more to say my final line.

"So go ahead, punish me. Give me detention, suspend me, hell, even expel me, just take your pick! It won't do anything," I said. "My life doesn't even matter to any of you! I could have killed myself a week ago and none of you besides Lizzy would care!"

The teacher did his best to cover up his shock and fear. "May I talk to you in private?" he asked, trying to hide his emotions. He tried dragging me away from the cafeteria by grabbing my arm, but I easily broke out of his grasp. It's a good thing that he wasn't a gym teacher.

"No, you may not speak to me in private, because I'm out of here," I said, walking over to my table. I picked up my bag and binder and proceeded to march straight out of the door. As I left, I made sure to shout, "And may I never have to set foot in this shit hole ever again!"

I practically burst through the school doors, making a loud "BANG!" as it swung all the way open and impacted with the wall next to it. I stormed off into the forest, marching along the trail that I had made.

The weather was almost the same exact way that it was on Friday, chilly, but not freezing. Light gray clouds covered the sky, yet they were not gray enough to be carrying snow. I quickly broke out into a full run to my house, and into the unlocked door I burst.

Granddad was sitting in the living room when I came in, with Koyuki right next to him. I saw Granddad jump around a foot or so into the air upon my thunderous entry. Koyuki, however, had a different reaction.

He leapt off of the couch and ran swiftly up to me, jumping into my arms. I carelessly threw down the binder and backpack and exited the house as quickly as I came in, leaving Granddad flustered on the couch.

Not caring if anyone saw him, I carried Koyuki through the backyard. Luckily, Mrs. Downs was not out reading as of yet, so there was no one else around. I carried Koyuki all the way out to the clearing, stroking him all the way there. I tried desperately to hide my anger and fury, but Koyuki must have sensed it, since he was looking up at me with concern.

At the clearing, I sat down on the log and put Koyuki down next to me. He was still looking worried, so I explained everything that happened. How everyone was looking at me like they wanted me dead, how the jocks trapped me, how I kicked jock one in the nuts, hopefully scarring him for life (Koyuki chuckled a bit at this), and how I exploded before the entire first lunch shift and stormed out the doors.

And as soon as I finish explaining, Koyuki jumped up on my shoulder and licked my face. I couldn't resist the cuteness of the entire action and a smile forced its way onto my face. I lifted him off of my shoulder and started stroking his super soft fur when I heard someone walking.

And who else enters the clearing but Lizzy. I was extremely glad that it was her instead of the principal or a teacher. But she was followed by another person. This person was a nice looking girl of approximately the same age as Lizzy and me. Her shoulder length brown hair was neatly combed in pulled into a ponytail. A smile looked permanently plastered upon her face, as if she was always seeing the good in things.

Then I saw her eyes. At first, they seemed oddly familiar, but I just couldn't place it. They looked soft, caring, and they sparkled with hope.

I stared at the eyes for a second more before realizing where I had seen them before. 'She's the one in fourth hour who wasn't looking daggers at me!'

Before I could notice anything else, Lizzy got my attention. "Kyle, are you OK?" she asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

I sighed, stroking Koyuki. "Yeah, I'm feeling slightly better," I replied. "I still hate that school, though."

"I don't blame you," Lizzy said. "It's not really the most caring place I've been, either."

I nodded, and looked down at Koyuki. He looked scared of the two girls in front of me, and he was trembling quite a bit.

I patted his head and calmly said, "Don't worry, Koyuki, they won't hurt you. At least, Lizzy won't hurt you, but I really don't know who the other one is."

"Oh!" the mystery girl said. "My name is Stephanie. And I would never do anything to hurt a Pokemon. My father might, but I would never even think of it." All the while she was talking, she managed to keep a smile.

I studied Stephanie a little more. She was nearly the same height as Lizzy, and she wore a light blue skirt that went down to her knees, and she had a T-shirt and a thin jacket on above her waist. I eyed the skirt with confusion. "Don't you get cold in that?" I asked.

"Not really," she answered, still smiling. "The cold doesn't really affect me."

"Ah, well I don't really mind it much either," I said. "I just wear this jacket because I like it."

I glanced down at my clothes, which were just a pair of jeans, a black T-shirt that bore the symbol of one of my favorite bands (Linkin Park), and a black jacket. The only other thing I wore was a medallion with an old symbol on it. I could tell that whatever creature the symbol depicted had a long tail, but it was so worn that I couldn't tell. Personally, I thought that it was a dragon.

"So, is this Koyuki?" Lizzy asked, sitting down next to me. Koyuki visibly scooted away from her, trembling horribly in spite of what I told him.

"Yes, this is Koyuki," I said to Lizzy. Then to Koyuki I said, "Don't worry, she's a friend of mine. She won't hurt you."

Koyuki must have believed that I was telling the truth because he stopped shaking like a leaf in the autumn wind and scooted back towards Lizzy. She reached out a hand and stroked him a few times. With every stroke, Koyuki looked less and less scared, until finally, he was smiling again. Well, he was smiling as best as any creature with a snout could.

"What species is Koyuki?" Lizzy asked, removing her hand. Koyuki looked disappointed that Lizzy had stopped petting him, but as soon as I continued stroking him, he looked contented again.

"Koyuki is an Eevee," I answered, still stroking Koyuki.

"Oh, aren't they the ones that can evolve into seven different Pokemon?" Stephanie said, walking over to the log and sitting next to me.

"Seven? I thought there were only four," I said. I looked at Koyuki to see if he would scoot away from Stephanie as well, but my petting his had him distracted.

"Yeah, there are seven of them," Stephanie said. "Let's see, there was Flareon, Jolteon, Vaporeon, Umbreon, Espeon, Leafeon, and Glaceon."

"Glaceon evolves from Eevee?" I asked, a little taken aback from all of Eevee's possible evolutions. Stephanie nodded. "Well," I said, "how ironic. The Pokemon killing begins because a man gets injured by a Glaceon, and here I am, befriending the pre-evolution."

We sat in silence for a minute or so, all contemplating the irony of the situation. Then a thought popped into my head.

"I wonder which one Koyuki will evolve into?" I said aloud. Hearing his name, Koyuki looked up to see Stephanie, and he shied away again.

"Don't worry, Koyuki, I would never dream of hurting you," Stephanie said, holding out her hand. Koyuki looked up at me, and I nodded.

He slowly approached Stephanie's hand, sniffed it, and, in true Koyuki fashion, jumped forward onto Stephanie, licking her to death.

Lizzy and I burst out laughing, while Stephanie tried to keep herself from falling off of the log. She managed to maintain her balance while holding Koyuki in her arms. Koyuki continued to lick her face, and she began to laugh as well.

After a while, we managed to stop, and Koyuki jumped back down onto my lap. "I guess that he likes you," I said.

"Yeah, he sure does like me," Stephanie said, still smiling after that entire episode.

"So, what do you guys think Koyuki will evolve into?" I asked. "I kind of hope he'll evolve into a Glaceon."

"Don't those only evolve in certain places?" Lizzy asked.

"Not really," Stephanie said. "Before the Grand Revolution, a study was done on Glaceon and Leafeon. As it turns out, an Eevee can evolve into either a Glaceon or Leafeon depending on the seasons. Glaceon in the winter, Leafeon in the summer."

"Well then, I hope that he evolves into a Glaceon as well," Lizzy said. "Of course, I can only say that since Glaceon is the only evolution of Eevee that I know."

"I'd kind of like him to evolve into a Flareon. Or a Jolteon. Or maybe an Umbreon. Or a Leafeon, that might be nice. But a Vaporeon might be nice to see. And so would an Espeon. A Glaceon would be pretty nice, though," Stephanie said.

"Um, you just listed off the entire list of evolutions," I pointed out.

"Well, they're all so nice that I can't choose," Stephanie said, with her eternal smile still ever present.

"How come?"

"I like to see the positive side of everything," Stephanie explained.

Just then, there were more audible footsteps. And I could tell that there were more than just one or two people this time.

"Koyuki, get behind the log," I quickly said. Koyuki jumped off of my lap and hid behind us, slightly scared.

"Maybe it's a nice person," Stephanie said, still being optimistic as ever.

Suffice to say that she was wrong.

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	8. Joey

A/N: Horray! FF stopped being a piece of crap and now I can update again! WOOT!

So, here's chapter numero 7, hope that you enjoy it. And if you have any questions about Joey, I'll answer them if you PM me, depending on what the questions are.

And thank you to Ketchum Kid (), Nanashi Chimera, ReLeeS, and Wings that bring the fate for your reviews! I know that more of you would have reviewed if it weren't for FF going screwy, so it's OK. And thanks again to TJay for beta-ing again! Also, I have to thank TJay for providing me with Joey's character. You're awesome, TJay!

And as for Ketchum Kid's review reply: This school is actually partially based off of my school, so maybe it's just the way most high schools are. and as for our group, read and find out. Also, as a suggestion, I think that you should create a FF Profile. That way, you can make it easier to keep an eye on stories you like, and I can reply to your reviews via FF. It isn't too hard, it only takes a few seconds to set it up, and a few minutes to set up your bio page.

Now, onward to the story!

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Chapter Seven – Joey

While we were waiting to see who would walk into the clearing, I took a few guesses as the identity of the intruders. First, I thought that Stephanie might be right. But then I passed that off as a hopeful wish that probably wasn't correct.

The next thing I think was that it might be my Granddad, but then I remembered that there was more than one set of footsteps, and my Granddad would have come alone.

That left two other guesses. One was that it was some sort of gang of students that wanted to kill Koyuki. The other guess was that it was a group of angry teachers and policemen that wanted to punish me and get rid of Koyuki. Truthfully, the former sounded better, since I may be able to escape them better than a group of adults with police backup.

What appeared in the clearing was worse than I could have imagined. It was the principal, followed by the teachers that were in the cafeteria when I 'exploded', followed by some police members, and finally trailed by a lot of students that wanted to see what would happen. So, in conclusion, there were a whole lot of people here to see me arrested and Koyuki killed.

What a caring city I live in.

I had never seen the principal in person before, so I took this time to study him. Not really much out of the ordinary, just the usual gray suit, with neatly maintained brown hair, level and not caring in the least eyes, and a mouth that looked like it was overworked in the frowning section of its job.

I surveyed the teachers, and saw only two that I recognized: the one that had tried to punish me and none other than Mr. Unruh. Great.

Then I studied the students that had followed the school staff members out here. None that I personally recognized were there, but I did see some of the jocks that had surrounded me.

The last group I looked at the police. They were all donned in the traditional police garb, the blue button up shirt and black pants, with all sorts of things hanging from their belts. Including guns and the occasional tazer.

In short, when you added the numbers up, our little group was, to put it plainly, royally fucked up the ass.

The principal stepped forward, and the incessant chatter of the students died down promptly for the first time since they entered. And for that matter, this was probably the first time the students quieted down for the principal willingly.

He cleared his throat as if he were about to make a big speech, which amused me, quite frankly. Surely enough, his tone fit that of a grand speech.

"Well there, Kyle, I hear that you have gotten yourself into a huge mess," he began. Then he leaned in slightly. "Can you tell me what exactly you have done, again?"

I knew this kind of speech. It was the 'Make Them Say What They Did Wrong and Let Themselves Understand How Bad Their Actions Were' kind of speech. And since I knew that what I did was in no way wrong, this speech was going to fail utterly.

"Well, Mr. Principal, I stood up for myself against the faulty school system and Pokemon by speaking the truth and fighting for what I believe in," I said quite confidently. The principal looked slightly taken aback by my response, which pleased me, since it told me that I guess right about his motives.

I kept talking before he could say anything in response. "What, did you not expect me to stand behind what I say? Do you really think that I didn't mean anything I said back in the school?" I asked. "Well, if that's what you thought, you were utterly mistaken."

A hushed silence floated through the clearing. Students stared at the principal to see how he would react. Teachers looked amongst each other searching for answers. And the police just kept their focus on me.

Finally, the principal spoke. "Don't you have quite the fearless spirit," he said, leaning back. "No wonder, since you're the great grandson of our city's Gym Leader."

"And damn proud of it," I interrupted. A few students gasped at my choice of words to use in front of the principal.

"None-the-less, you have broken school rules," the principal said, cutting to the chase, which was a smart decision. He must have realized that he was getting nowhere fast with his other approach. "And for that," he continued, "you must be punished. And at the severity of your actions, you shall be punished quite heavily."

More awkward silence followed the end of his sentence. Then a few worried and fearful murmurs passed through the crowd of students. Many were looking and pointing to the space behind me, and guess who just happened to be in that spot?

"Well, I guess that there's no more use in trying to hide him," I said, reaching behind me. "Might as well introduce you all properly."

I picked up Koyuki and lifted him around into my lap. He was quaking with fear, particularly from the police officers. Speaking of which, they seemed to start focusing more on Koyuki than me, which slightly unnerved me.

"Everyone, meet Koyuki," I said, stroking him. All of the students reacted in one way or another, mainly gasping in fear and taking cover, thinking that Koyuki was going to shoot flames at them. The principal did his best to maintain a fearless attitude, while teachers acted somewhat like the students, but not nearly as extreme.

"So this is your Pokemon that you were talking about earlier, right?" the principal asked.

"Yes, obviously."

"I thought so," he said. "So, can you tell me why you care so much for this…" he paused, trying to find the right word. "…Creature?" he finished.

I just couldn't stand him call Koyuki that. "First things first, Koyuki is not just a creature!" I shouted, standing up and cradling Koyuki in my arms. "He's an Eevee who is probably one of the kindest Pokemon out there! He would never hurt anyone, ever! Just look at him; he's more afraid of you than you are of him!"

Some students started studying Koyuki, and it was quite obvious that I was telling the truth, seeing as Koyuki was shaking like he was in an earthquake.

"Still, why do you care for them?" the principal asked.

"Why don't you ask Mr. Unruh over there as to why I believe that Pokemon aren't evil, since I told him why on Friday!" I said, still slightly shouting.

"Is this true Mr. Unruh?" the principal asked, turning to face the teacher in question.

Mr. Unruh nodded, but said nothing else. The principal turned back to me and said, "So it is as you say. Well, then, I'll ask him as soon as we finish here." He looked over to the police officers and nodded to one in particular. He stepped forward and the other officers followed. The head officer took out his handcuffs, and so did two other officers. A fourth one took out what looked to be a tranquilizer dart.

"Shit," I mumbled under my breath. The second after I had, a bright blue ball of energy flew out of the bushes on my left. The sphere swiftly flew forward and landed right before the head officer, stopping the stream of police in their tracks.

I looked around, and Lizzy and Stephanie bolted up. "What the hell?!" I shouted, trying to find what had flung the strange orb. A second one flew out of the bushes to my right, right in front of the teachers. It didn't actually hit any of the teachers, but it gave them all a good scare.

"Where are you?" the police officer commanded. Just as he said that, a large amount of sand appeared out of nowhere and started whipping around the clearing.

I heard a whisper right beside me that said, "Go, quick." I turned to face the direction that the whisper came from, but all I saw was sand.

Heeding the whisper's instructions, I tapped Lizzy's shoulder and pointed behind us, signaling that we should get out of here. She nodded, and I did the same to Stephanie.

We did our best to leave the area, and almost the instant we left the clearing, we hit the boundary of the sandstorm, escaping the painful sting of the sand. We didn't stop there, and pretty soon, we were all out of breath from running for so long.

But we kept running. We eventually came upon a small, worn tree house. It looked big enough for all of us, and sturdy enough to hold us all at once. We decided to try hiding out here temporarily while we caught our breath.

The inside of the little tree house was quite a surprise. It had a small bed with quite a few blankets, as well as a small refrigerator. There was a rug on the ground, as well as a desk and a chair. The chair, for some reason, had a large hole cut out of the back. There was also a small electric heater attached to a large car battery. Currently, it was turned off, so I walked over and switched it on.

Lizzy and I sat on the bed, with Koyuki on my lap, and Stephanie took the rug as her seat.

"Are you sure that you don't want to sit on the bed?" I asked. "I'll sit on the floor instead."

"No, I'm fine with the floor," Stephanie said, shaking her head no.

We sat in silence, thinking the same thing, but not daring to ask about it. Finally, I got up the courage to ask.

"So, what are we going to do now?"

"Well, we obviously can't go back home and pretend that this didn't happen," Lizzy said. "The police are going to be looking all over for us."

"I know what you can do," said a voice from the entrance to the tree house.

Instinctively, we all looked over to the entrance to the little hut, and what we saw was quite a strange sight.

Standing in the doorway was a teenager, about the same age as me, with dark blue hair that was medium length and his eyes were vivid lime green. He was wearing a large white hat, a red diamond insignia just above the brim, making the hat look somewhat like a barrette, but way less dorky. His clothes were composed of a sleeveless white shirt and a pair of blue/grey camo cargo pants. He wore a pair of worn blue running shoes with ankle high socks.

Now, one might normally question the hat, hair, or sleeveless shirt during winter. But this was definitely no normal situation. In a situation like this, the main questions were much different.

Why? Mainly the fact that the teen standing in the doorway was part Pokemon. Two parts Pokemon, to be exact.

His arms, for example, were covered in a blue fur that was of the same shade of his hair. They ended in paws covered in black fur that had a spike coming out of the back of the paw. On his head, one could barely see black dreadlock-like things attached to his head. Large, blue, dog-like ears protruded from holes cut in his hat, and a hole on the front of his shirt revealed another spike growing from his chest.

On his back, a pair of leathery, kite shaped wings extended from small holes cut in the shirt. They were primarily green in color, with red surrounding the edges. It looked very similar to the insignia on the hat. From his cargo's sprouted a large, scaly tail that ended in a trio of kite shaped scales that bore a striking resemblance to the wings. The color of the scales alternated in stripes of dark green and light green.

Many thousands of questions passed through my head as this teen walked through the room and took a seat in the chair, slipping his tail through the hole as if he had practiced the motion thousands of times. Which he probably had.

As to the questions, do you really have to ask?

He looked at us and studied our looks and features. Suddenly, he opened his mouth and spoke in that slightly too deep to be normal voice. "I'm pretty sure that you're all wondering about why I'm like this and what the heck I am." We all nodded.

"Well, I'm what people call a combiomorph," he said. "And what that is exactly what you see. A human that has had his or her DNA genetically altered so that the person carries traits of his/her human self as well as some features of two specific Pokemon, which are a Lucario and a Flygon in my case. As for why I'm a combiomorph, it's something that I don't like to talk about. Do you have any other questions?"

"Um, what's your name?" Lizzy asked.

"Oh, right, how could I forget something as important as that?" he said. "Joey."

"And why are you here?" Lizzy inquired.

"This is where I live," Joey answered. "That is, where I currently live. There are countless people chasing me, so I have to keep moving."

"What exactly can you do?" Stephanie asked, still cheery as ever. I wondered if she smiled even while she was in pain.

"Well, I can use some of the abilities of a Lucario and a Flygon while like this, and I can transform into a full Lucario or a full Flygon and back at any given moment. I can't transform into a full human, unfortunately. That's pretty much it."

Stephanie nodded, having had her only question answered. I had a question that I wanted to ask, however.

"Why is your hair blue? I mean, why dye your hair blue? Who does that?"

Yeah, aren't I subtle?

And as my crappy luck dictates, he has to get angry at this comment. His paws were clenched into fists and his tail twitched. I swear, if this were a cartoon, his face would have turned red and steam would have blown out of his Lucario ears.

"Don't EVER make fun of my hair," he said, standing up. He then pointed his paw at me and began to form a blue sphere of energy. "Got it?"

I feebly nodded, and the energy dissipated as his arm lowered.

"So, are there any other questions?" he said, as if he didn't just nearly explode and blow me to smithereens.

"Um," Lizzy started, getting Joey's attention, "were you the one that threw those energy balls-"

"Aura Spheres," Joey interrupted.

"What?"

"They're called Aura Spheres," Joey explained. "It's an attack that Lucario can learn to use."

Oh," Lizzy said. "So were you the one who threw those Aura Spheres into the clearing and started the sandstorm?"

"Yes, that was me," Joey answered.

"Why?" I managed to get the courage to ask.

"Because, ever since I found this place," Joey said, motioning to the room around us, "I have explored the forest. When I found that clearing, you were there, Kyle."

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

"I believe that principal said it," Joey answered. "Anyway, I was intrigued by you, since you often were mumbling about only having one friend and everyone else acting as if you weren't there. It reminded me of, well, Em."

"You see, I used to be just like you, but I had two little sisters. One of them, Em, was almost just like you, but the other was almost the exact opposite. But they were my little sisters, and I felt the need to keep them safe no matter what they believed in. Anyway, you reminded me of her, and for some reason, I felt almost the same urge with you that I felt with Em."

"So, what happened to them?" I asked. I immediately wished that I hadn't, because I could see that Joey was trying to bite back tears.

"Wait, if it's that tender of a subject, you don't have to tell me," I said.

"No, no, I knew that I'd have to tell someone someday," Joey said, wiping away tears with the side of his paws, being careful not to accidentally stab himself with the spike on the back of it.

"What happened was that one day, when she was only 10 and I was 14, my sister stood up for Pokemon and refused to be punished by the school. My other sister, Katie, and I went to see if she was alright, and almost the exact same events that happened in the clearing earlier happened to us. The only differences were that she didn't befriend a Pokemon like you did with Koyuki (Koyuki lifted his sleeping head up at his name and stared at Joey, then promptly went back to sleep), and no one was there to save us, so we were arrested."

"When they were going to punish her, I stood up and took her fate. Then they turned me into this," he paused briefly to motion at his body, "and set Em and Katie free. But they kept me locked up. Yeah, the legal system around there was really messed up. Anyways, when I heard that Katie had committed suicide saying that she'd rather be dead than related to a Pokemon mutant and a Pokemon lover, it broke my heart, as well as Em's. I have no idea what happened to Em after that. I spent another few months in the cell that they kept me in, but after that, I couldn't stand it."

"I broke out and ran away from that prison, which happened to be all the way in Wedfri City, on the other side of the region. I went by night and only through areas that were never traversed by any other humans. I found some interesting things on my way here, including a very ancient shrine on Fein Mountain. It had some sort of faded symbol in the center of it," he finished, glancing around to see our reactions.

Stephanie was taking this entire story in with a sad look on her face instead of her customary smile. Lizzy almost looked ready to burst into tears, but I was more intrigued by the shrine he mentioned. "What did the symbol look like?" I asked.

"I couldn't tell too much of what it looked like; it was extremely worn. The only thing I could make out was an extremely long tail," he recalled.

"Did it look anything like this?" I asked, taking off my medallion. Holding it by the string, I offered it to Joey, who grabbed the coin in his paw. His face bore a studious look for a second before showing surprise.

"This is the exact same symbol!" he said. "Where did you get this?"

"My dad gave it to me while he was still alive," I told him. "He got it from my Granddad, who got it from his dad, the old Gym Leader of this city. After that, I don't know where it came from."

"Do you think there's any connection to that shrine?" Stephanie asked as Joey continued to study the coin.

"Yes, I believe that there is," Joey said, handing my medallion back to me, which I gladly took and restored it to its spot around my neck. "In fact, I think that we should go to that shrine and see if there's any sort of hidden key slot for it or something."

"But that's all the way on top of Fein Mountain, isn't it?" I asked. "How are we possibly going to climb the entire mountain to get to it?"

Joey smiled slyly. "I've got a short cut."

"What about the wild Pokemon in the area?" Lizzy asked. "Surely Joey can't hold them all back alone!"

"Don't worry, I know what we can do, we'll just have to be extremely sneaky," I said. "Oh, and don't call me Shirley."

We all got a good laugh out of that, including Joey.

"Well, please do enlighten us on your brilliant plan!" Joey said, still in good spirits.

"Alright, this is what we'll have to do…"

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	9. Breaking & Entering Plus Mild Theft

A/N: Welcome back to Outcasts Rising! Sorry for the slight wait, I had a busy week after Tuesday, and I only got this done on Saturday. Anyway, we finally get to figure out what Kyle's plan is, and more of Joey's powers are displayed. Please enjoy!

Thank you to Ketchum Kid (), AzureFlames, Nanashi Chimera, Wings that bring the fate, ReLeeS, and theking6 for your reviews! Also, thanks to all of you who put my stories on their alert or favorites list, and those of you who faved me as an author! Even though you don't leave your reviews, it still pleases me to know that you like my stories enough to add them to your faves or alerts. And one more thanks to TJay for you Beta-ing!

And to Ketchum Kid (), I see why that would stop you from getting your own account. Can't wait til you get that laptop. As for the combiomorph thing, yeah, we are delving deep in that pool. I just love going that far down, it's so much fun! I just had random inspiration for it one day, and I had to include one in one of my stories. I think that fanfiction had some sort of glitch or something, but I hated it, too. I checked almost every hour to see if it was back up and running.

Now, onto the story!

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Chapter Eight – Breaking & Entering (Plus Mild Theft)

After I told Lizzy, Stephanie, and Joey about my plan and gave them my reasoning for it, they all agreed that it was probably the best plan of action. Unfortunately, we were going to need the cover of night to be able to go through with my plan, so until then, we decided to stay in the tree house. It was the safest place for us to hide, since the place hadn't been touched in years. Or at least Joey said it was that way when he had arrived here.

So to pass the time, we decided to talk about random subjects and pretend that what had happened earlier today never did happen. Of course, that was tough since I never knew Stephanie before today, and Joey was living testament to the fact that things would probably never be normal for me again.

But when was it ever normal for me in the first place?

Anyway, we didn't really talk about anything of importance. Just general information about ourselves and other random topics were discussed. When asked about my family, I only said that I barely knew my parents, and that I really didn't want to talk about them.

That abruptly ended that thread of conversation, and Stephanie brought up a new one. That one led to another, which led to another, and another, and another.

Koyuki slept through all of the conversations, lying on my lap while I stroked his soft fur. He was awake for the one that involved Joey being able to talk to Pokemon, however. Which was true.

I barely remember the conversations at all, except for one of them. It was about the three ruins that resided in various places throughout the Voer Region.

"So, you were originally from Wedfri City?" I remember Lizzy asking Joey.

"Yeah, I was," Joey said, "and I hated living there."

"I heard that there were some sort of ruins in that city," I said. "Is it true?"

"Actually, it is true," Lizzy said, answering for Joey. "In fact, there are two other ruins like it in the region."

"Really? Where?" Stephanie asked.

"I think that they're in Wedfri City, Solei City, and Tremen Town on Tremen Island," Lizzy said.

"I'm not sure if that's true," Joey stated, "but I do know that there were ruins in Wedfri. I remember reading an article about them once. It said that they had found the exact same symbol in each of them. Something about a circle that was split horizontally, with a smaller, separate circle in the center of it."

"What else do you know about them?" I asked. I was very curious about these ruins. Truthfully, I had never heard of them before.

"Well, I think that it had said that they found a few other strange things in each of the ruins," Joey said. "But they never found these items in the other ruins. If I remember correctly, the group studying the Tremen Ruins found statues standing parallel to each other. In Wedfri, they had found something that looked like a case full of strange pins. And in Solei, they had supposedly found a weird device that looked like a high tech top."

"I wonder if they'll ever find out what those ruins used to be…" Lizzy said.

"Sure, someone will figure it out eventually!" Stephanie said, cheerful as always.

"Is she always like that?" Joey asked me quietly.

"How would I know? I've only known her for a few hours!" I told him.

Finally, night fell. I heard sounds of the forest surround me, each coming in at different times. First, the sounds of the cars and people died down to nothing, leaving only the slight breeze blowing through the trees. Then the wind picked up a bit, whistling through the branches. Every so often the sounds of a forest animal quickly dashing by towards wherever it called a home would weave its way into the quiet, eerie wind, only to disappear seconds later. There were no chirping crickets, nor any chirping birds. No, the night was much too cold for that, being the middle of January. The only vocal noises were the sounds of the occasional howls of the wolves and coyotes in the mountains. Overall, the effect was definitely spooky.

We waited still for the city to settle down. Finally, midnight came, signaling the start of a new day, as well as the start of my plan.

Almost right after midnight struck, we climbed out of the small room and slipped silently down the ladder. Koyuki was in my arms wearing a very serious face, as if he knew that what we were doing was extremely important. We quickly dashed through the near silence of the night, making little sound. We were quickly upon civilization as the backs of houses came into view. Joey, who was the fastest of us, reached the houses first and checked for any activity in the front of them.

We stood back a few yards, still shrouded in the near absolute darkness of the forest, waiting for Joey's signal for the all clear. A minute later, Joey showed up, giving the sign, indicating that it was safe to continue on.

We quickly made our way between the houses and out to the street. The lamps were all on, but there were no moving cars or people in sight. The windows of the houses were all dark, telling everyone who saw them that the owners of the house were asleep. Practically everything was still. The only movement came from the wind blowing the branches and grass, and us.

Joey taking the lead, we rushed down the street, towards the center of the city. Soon, Joey's ears perked up and he came to an abrupt halt.

"What's up, Joey?" I asked once the rest of us had caught up to him.

"I hear sirens approaching," he whispered worriedly. "We need to find a place to hide."

Lizzy pointed to an empty dumpster. "We can hide in that!" she said rather excitedly. Whether she would admit it or not, she was actually sort of enjoying the experience.

Our group hurried over to the dumpster, climbing in and only peeking our eyes out far enough to see the street. A few seconds later, the sirens that Joey had heard got to where we could hear them, then they grew louder and louder until they passed by on the street.

It was a cop car, and it was moving extremely slow, as if the driver and the passenger were looking for something. And I'm pretty sure I knew what they were looking for. They passed our dumpster without noticing us and continued down the street, turning at the closest corner.

Climbing out of our hiding place with Koyuki still in my arms, I said, "That was definitely too close for comfort."

"I'll say," Joey said, "there was barely enough room in that dumpster for us to all fit."

I chuckled a bit, just because it felt good to forget that this was serious for a moment. But the moment passed, and the seriousness returned.

"But really now, we need to stay hidden better. We can't risk getting captured," I said.

"Well, I might be able to carry all of you while in Flygon form," Joey suggested.

"Let's give it a shot, then," Stephanie said.

"Alright, stand back," Joey said, backing up a bit. We followed his orders as he began to change.

First, his neck began to increase in length. As it elongated, his ears disappeared and large, red half spheres covered his eyes. His nose and mouth reshaped themselves into a small snout with two nostril holes. His hat disappeared, and his blue hair and black bangles disappeared along with it. His scalp was almost instantly covered in green scales, and two long protrusions grew back from his head.

His shirt disappeared, and the spike on his chest grew into his body. The area was quickly covered in scales. His arms reformed from Lucario into Flygon as paws turned into claws. They became shorter and thinner, and all traces of fur were now hidden under the green scales.

His shoes vanished as his feet grew longer, forming into a rounded tip. His legs shortened considerably, bunching up and gaining in muscle mass right at the thigh. His pants faded, revealing the rest of the scaled underbelly. His previously awkwardly placed tail now seemed to flow naturally from his spine.

Joey shook himself once, and all I could do was stare. I mean, I had just seen someone transform into a Pokemon. It was extremely hard to comprehend. He then nodded, signaling for us to climb on. Lizzy and Stephanie climbed on, fitting right behind where his wings sprouted. Joey then leaned his neck down as if trying to tell me to climb onto it. I did what I figured that he wanted, and he lifted his neck, letting me slide down into a better position. Koyuki had taken up residence in front of me, and to keep him from falling, I put my arms around Joey's neck in such a way that it formed a sort of cage around him.

Then Joey tested his wings once, twice, and then on the third flap, he lifted off of the ground. He rapidly flapped his wings, climbing in altitude until we were above the rooftops. Then I pointed in the direction that I wanted him to go, and off we flew.

A few minutes passed by, along with the blurred scenery. I would have tried to study it, but we were going to fast to distinguish anything. Finally, we approached our destination. I could see it from a little while back, and I signaled to Joey that we were near. He looked relieved that he could land soon. Apparently, we were starting to wear him out.

Soon, we hovered over the tan roof of the building that was our destination. Well, it used to be tan, but now most of the paint was gone from wear and tear. And that happens when a place goes nearly a century without being touched.

We landed in front of the main entrance to the building, which was chained shut. I was slightly surprised that the police weren't waiting for us here. But it was a good surprise, like the kind that you get on your birthday when you open a present and realize that it's exactly what you wanted.

Anyway, Lizzy, Stephanie, Koyuki and I climbed down off of Joey, while he reverted back to normal. He promptly sat down, panting slightly.

"Are you OK?" I asked, rushing over to his side.

"Yeah," he said, still panting, "I'm fine. I just haven't done that in a while."

He further proved his point that he was fine by standing up and walking around.

"Good, then you know what to do now," I said, nodding at the chain on the doors.

Joey nodded back, then walked up to the doors. He held the chain with his left paw and his other paw was hovering above the chain. Joey closed his eyes in concentration, and the spike on the back of his paw began to glow. A second later, his eyes flashed open and he brought his paw down, the spike connecting with the chain, cleanly slashing it. His other paw suddenly sank a bit, now holding the full weight of the chain.

Carefully, Joey pulled the chain out of the door handles, trying not to make a sound. Soon, the rusty chain was on the ground, and I was holding the door open, watching Lizzy, then Joey, and finally Stephanie enter the building. I followed them, slowly shutting the door behind Koyuki as he bounded into the room last.

Inside the building, it was easily visible that it used to be a Gym. My great-grandfather's Gym to be exact. The puzzle was a large forested maze with a few rocky cliffs littering the area every so often. There were some white tiles randomly placed around the maze. 'Teleportation panels,' I thought. I walked over and touched one with my foot, but nothing happened. I figured that the power for the Gym had been cut long ago.

Speaking of power, it was nearly pitch black in the Gym, seeing as there was no electricity. We could only see the small patch around us because of the light streaming through the dirty windows. I pulled out the large flashlight that I had grabbed earlier in the tree house and turned it on. Instantly, a larger area around us was illuminated.

I shone the light on the trees in front of us only to find that they weren't there. Instead, they had been fallen by the crowd that must have gathered in here during the Gym Revolt. The path made by the fallen trees led straight through the maze and right up to the Leader's podium.

The others and I followed the path and were quickly at the podium. Right next to it stood the challenge field. It was just like any other Gym field. It was a large rectangle that was marked off in the grass with paint, with two squares labeled off on opposite sides where the challenger and the Gym Leader would stand. It was actually quite thrilling to imagine a battle playing out on the field.

I looked forward and saw that on the wall behind the field was a wall with a door in it. I approached it and saw that it required a five-letter password.

"Great, we need a password to get in!" I said, exasperated. "Now what?"

"I could blow open the door with an Aura Sphere," Joey said.

"No, that would be too loud," I said, dismissing the idea. "We need to figure out the password."

Lizzy sat down and tried to think of five-letter words that would make good passwords with Koyuki resting in her lap. Joey began pacing, and Stephanie just stood where she was, apparently deep in thought. Her smile stayed in place, never leaving her face even while she was thinking.

I, however, walked away from the group and wandered over to the Gym Leader's podium. I stood there on the platform, looking out on the fake forest. Well, it technically wasn't fake, seeing as the trees and shrubs and other foliage was real. A better term might be "man-made".

I happened to glance down and saw something carved into the tile where I was standing. I knelt down to get a better look at it, and saw what looked to be a message. It had "What all beings wish for" written into the tiled surface.

I walked over to the group and said, "I think that I have a clue as to what the password might be."

"What is it?" Lizzy asked, still sitting.

"Well, I found a message carved into the tiles over there," I said, pointing to the Gym Leader's podium. "It said, 'What all beings wish for,' on it."

"So that means that the password is something that beings wish for. Hmmm," Joey said, holding his paw up to his chin in thought. "Maybe money?"

"No, that can't be it," Lizzy said, standing up, forcing Koyuki to jump off of her lap. "Not all beings want money. Most Pokemon, for example, don't wish to have money."

"What about… Hmm," Joey said, still in thought.

"Faith?" Stephanie said. "People want to have faith in something."

"Maybe," Joey said. "Let's keep coming up with other possibilities."

While they were brainstorming, I was trying to remember something Granddad had told me. He said that my great-granddad had said something very profound after the Gym Revolt. Something along the lines of 'We all hope for peace'.

"Wait a second… Could it be that?" I mumbled.

"What?" Lizzy asked.

"Maybe the password is Peace," I said. "I remember my Granddad saying something about 'All of us hoping for peace'. When I asked him where he got that from, he said that my great-granddad, who was the Gym Leader of this Gym, had said that shortly after the Gym Revolt. Do you think that he was trying to leave another clue for us?"

"It could be," Stephanie said. "Let's try it!"

I nodded and walked over to the door. The lock was just a simple latch lock with a keypad with the alphabet on it. However, the latch was extremely thick and would be nearly impossible to break, even for a Pokemon. Then I thought, 'Especially for a Pokemon, seeing as it was made to keep the Gym Leader's Pokemon in here.'

I entered the word 'Peace' into the keypad, and suddenly, the lock clicked open, allowing me to remove it. I opened the door, revealing a small flight of stairs. I climbed down them, the rest of the group following me, and soon came upon a small room at the bottom of the stairs.

On a single solitary table in the center of the room were three strange devices. They were ball shaped, with red on the top and white on the bottom. They were about the size of marbles, and they had small buttons in the front along the black line that separated the red and white halves of the balls. 'Pokeballs,' I thought, walking over to the table and picking them up.

Slipping them into my jacket pockets, I walked back out of the room and up the stairs with everyone else. We quickly exited the building and looked around. There was still no one near us, so Joey began transformation again. We climbed on and he took off. He headed back to the little tree house in the woods, with three new passengers that were about to get a new start.

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	10. Meeting The New Guys

A/N: Hey guys, new chapter is ready! Sorry that it's kind of short, this was the best place for me to split the chapters. I've also been in a little bit of a slump with this story, but I'll do my best to keep from putting it on a hiatus.

And I'm a little disappointed in you who normally review. I only got four reviews since last chapter, and two were from one person. So thanks to Nanashi Chimera, AzureFlames, and ReLeeS for you reviews, and as for the rest of you who didn't review, review this time or I will not hesitate to call on the Legendaries to come and kick your ass! Thank you!

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Chapter Nine – Meeting The New Guys

We arrived back at the tree house a few moments after Joey took off. We all quickly dismounted and looked around. We didn't see anything new or strange (of course, we couldn't see much at all since it was pitch black), so Joey returned to his normal-ish form and we all climbed the ladder into the tree house.

Inside, everything was still the same as it was when we left. Nothing had been moved or touched in our absence. It made me feel safer, knowing that no one knew that we were there.

Joey, who knew this place almost by heart, was able to find the switch for the large lamp. He flipped it, dissolving the shadows that covered the room in an instant.

Unfortunately, since we had been so used to the dark, our eyes hurt for about a minute or so.

Rubbing my eyes, I found my way to the bed and sat down on it. Joey flung himself down onto it, exhausted after flying all of us around the city. Koyuki jumped up onto my lap and curled up, ready to sleep. I nudged him and said, "Don't fall asleep yet, we've yet to meet the three Pokemon in those Pokeballs."

Lizzy and Stephanie had a short dispute about who would sit on the chair that went a little like this:

"Here, Stephanie, you can have the chair this time."

"No, Lizzy, I'm quite fine with the floor; you take the chair."

"No, I insist, you take the chair."

"It's OK, I'd rather be on the floor."

"Would you two just stop arguing over it and sit down?" (In case you can't tell, that was Joey)

Lizzy sat on the floor while Stephanie took the chair. End of argument.

The room stayed quiet for a while after that. We knew that Joey had been worn out by carrying us, so we opted to not poke the bear, and left him to rest for a while.

While he rested, I dug the three tiny spheres out of my jacket pocket. Turning each of them over in my hands, I carefully studied them. Each had the same color scheme, red on top and white on bottom. The narrow black line that ran in-between the colors was extremely thin and it looked like it was a crack in the ball instead of a painted on line. There was a single hinged on one side of the ball along the black line that confirmed my thoughts that the line was a split in the ball. On the opposite side of the hinge was a single white button. I assumed that this was the release function.

The balls were no larger than a marble, and I could hold all three in my hand easily. While studying them, I accidentally pushed the button on one of them. It quickly grew in size, going from the size of a marble to about the size of a baseball.

The sudden nature of the growth startled me as I jumped back, nearly dropping the balls. When it finished growing, Lizzy, Stephanie, Joey, and Koyuki were all staring intently at it.

"I had no idea that it did that…" Joey said sleepily.

"Me neither…" I said, taking a closer look at the ball.

With it being much larger, I was able to see two features that I hadn't seen before.

The first was what appeared to be a stamp that said, "Gym Leader's Pokemon". The message was in a circle, around the edges of what appeared to be another circle that was split in half down the middle, with a smaller, complete circle in the center. It reminded me of the front of the Pokeball.

Joey must have noticed the stamp, too, because he said, "Hey, that's the same symbol as the ones they found in the ruins!"

"I'll bet that there's some sort of connection…" Lizzy said.

I switched my attention to the other feature. It was a felt tip pen marking that spelt out "TAKESHI" right next to the stamp.

"What the heck does 'TAKESHI' mean?" Joey asked.

"Maybe it's a name?" Stephanie said.

"So Takeshi is the name of the Pokemon inside this Pokeball?" Lizzy asked.

"I don't know," I said, shrugging. "It's just a suggestion."

"Well, why don't we open it and find out?" Joey inquired.

"Aren't you still tired?" I asked.

"Not really," Joey answered. "More worn out than tired. I can stay awake and be a part of any conversation, but I probably won't be moving much."

"Alright. If you say so," I said.

I looked down at the other two marble sized Pokeballs. They paled in comparison to the size of the third. I wondered briefly about how much technology would need to go into this thing to make it be able to change size like that. Plus there's also the technology that turned the Pokemon into energy and contained them. Some of the technological advances of today seemed like nothing compared to the technology that these balls must have in them.

"Sometime tonight," Joey said, jarring me from my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, right," I said, getting a grip on my wandering mind. I pushed the buttons on the other two and watched as they grew in size to match the third one.

However, I hadn't planned for the fact that I probably couldn't hold all of them in one hand, and the other two pushed the already enlarged one out of my hand. It fell to the floor, and I tried to grab it with my other hand. I missed, and it fell the rest of the way to the floor.

Out of some lucky twist of fate, the ball landed on the button, which activated it. It bounced up off of the floor and hovered in mid-air, using more of the amazing technology that the Pokeball had in it. Then, it opened along the black line, and a red beam of energy shot out of it.

The red beam pooled about a foot in front of the ball, starting to form a shape. Once the shape had been formed, color seeped into it, banishing the red glow of the energy. Then the ball closed up and fell to the ground, bouncing back up into my open hand.

Now standing in the room was a large bug-like creature. It was green in color, and its head looked almost reptilian. Instead of arms, the creature possessed a pair of blades that glinted menacingly in the lamplight. It stood about the same height as me, but an inch or two shorter. I immediately recognized it to be a Scyther.

It looked around as if confused at its surroundings. Then it looked at me for a moment, as if sizing me up, trying to figure out who I was. Finally, it got a look of recognition in its eyes and said, "Scyther?"

"Um… I have no idea of what you just said," I told it quite bluntly.

"But I do," Joey said, getting the Scyther's attention. "It asked you if you were Vince Rodric."

Scyther's eyes grew large when he saw Joey. I knew exactly what he was thinking, and I decided to tell him before he could ask.

"Don't ask, he doesn't like to talk about it," I told the Scyther. "And whatever you do, don't insult his hair."

We had a laugh at that, all of us minus Scyther, who looked clueless.

"Well, I'm not Vince," I said, returning to Scyther's question, "but he was my great-grandfather."

The Scyther's eyes grew wider than before at what I said. "Scyther, Scythe?"

"Translation, please?" I asked Joey.

"He said, 'Your Vince's great-grandson?' And as a personal question, who is Vince?"

"Well, yes, I'm Vince's great-grandson. And Vince was the Gym Leader of Calbri City, which I learned only last Friday. I'm guessing that this Scyther was his."

The Scyther nodded.

"So, just wondering, would your name happen to be Takeshi?" I asked Scyther.

He nodded again. Then he said, "Scyther Scythe?"

"He asked us what our names are," Joey said as if on autopilot.

"Well, I'm Kyle. This cute little Eevee here is Koyuki, the girl on the floor is Lizzy, the one in the chair is Stephanie, and this strange looking teen here is Joey," I told Scyther, pointing to each of us respectively.

"Hey, I'm not that strange looking!" Joey said, faking an upset tone, which caused all of us, including Takeshi, to burst out laughing.

"OK, Takeshi, I guess that we should probably tell you about why you're here and what has happened since you were put in your Pokeball," I said after the laughter died down.

"But first, may I ask a question?" Lizzy asked.

"Sure, Lizzy, go ahead."

"So, Takeshi, why haven't you aged at all since Vince put you away?" she asked.

"Scyther, Scythe Scyther," Takeshi said.

Joey immediately began translating. "He said, 'I think that something about the Pokeball keeps Pokemon from aging while we're in them for long periods of time."

Lizzy nodded her head, and I asked, "Are there any other questions?"

Takeshi quickly said, "Scythe Scyther?"

Joey translated that into, "'Where are Tsurugi and Sasori?'" Then he added, "Whoever they are…"

"Do you mean the other Pokemon that Vince owned?" I asked.

Scyther nodded.

"They're right here," I said, holding up the other two Pokeballs.

"Scyther?"

"He asked 'Would you let them out?'" Joey translated.

"Sure, I don't see why not," I said. "Besides, they need to know the same things that I was going to tell you, Takeshi."

With that, I pressed the buttons on each of the balls and watched as they opened up. Two red beams leapt from the insides of the Pokeballs, forming two separate forms. After the beams faded, the figures were clearly visible.

The first one might have passed for a human if it weren't for the large extensions from its elbows or the ridge on its head. It was white and green in color, and had a fairly serious look on its face.

The other looked more like a large bat with claws at the ends of its arms. Upon further inspection, one could see that its wings and arms were not attached. It had a long scorpion-like tail with two barbs at the end of it. It wore a mischievous grin on its face.

I recognized the two as a Gallade and a Gliscor respectively. They had similar reactions to their new surroundings, as well as to Joey. Takeshi said something, probably along the lines of what I had told him earlier. Takeshi said some more, probably explaining who we were (I could tell that because both the Gallade and the Gliscor stared at me briefly, incredulous looks on their faces).

Anyway, I used this moment to look at the Pokeballs for their names. One said Tsurugi and the other said Sasori. I had no idea which name belonged to which Pokemon, so when Takeshi finished speaking, I asked.

"So, which one of you is Tsurugi?"

The Gallade stepped forward and bowed slightly. 'He acts as if he is a gentleman. I'll bet that he's a very formal Pokemon,' I thought.

"So, that must make you Sasori," I said, looking at the Gliscor. He nodded yes and let loose a laugh that matched his mischievous smile.

'Great, so there's a gentleman, a prankster, and a… You know, I really don't know what to say about Scyther's personality. He seems pleasant…' I thought.

"Shall I continue with explaining what's changed since you were put into that locked room?" I asked.

Scyther nodded, and I motioned for them to sit down. "This might take a while…"

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	11. New Start

A/N: Sorry for the slight wait, guys! I've been busier during Spring Break than I had thought. Anyway, here's the next chapter! And I probably won't be able to check my e-mails or my account from the 18th to the 21st. I'm going to be in St. Louis for a Robotics tournament.

Also, March 19th is my birthday for those of you who care! I'll be 16! -does happy dance-

Thanks to AzureFlames, Nanashi Chimera, Wings that bring the fate, and ReLeeS for reviewing, and thanks to TJay for beta reading!

And as a side note, I now have a DeviantArt account, and I have posted a few things there. If you are interested, check me out. I'd post a link, but FF destroys links, so I'm not going to try. I go under the same name there that I go by here, so I shouldn't be hard to find.

* * *

Chapter Ten – New Start

I was able to explain the entire situation to all of them in a matter of minutes, as well as who we were and why we were here. Around fifteen minutes by my count. Scyther, Gallade, and Gliscor- Wait, no. Takeshi, Tsurugi, and Sasori didn't ask any questions during the time I was talking. They just sat there in front of me, paying close attention to everything I said.

Why did they do that?

It's not that I didn't like it. It's just that I'm not their original trainer. Why would they listen to me like that? Were they just being polite?

Well, for whatever reason, they didn't interrupt me at all while I was explaining.

I thought about asking them, but I figured that it'd be rude to just flat out ask them that. But then again, I'd never been one for being proper and obeying rules. Just ask the principal of the school, the students and teachers that were in the clearing, or the police. They'll probably all tell you that I don't like to obey much anything.

Then they'd ask you if you knew anything about where I was. But that's beside the point.

So, being the crazy rule-breaker that I was, I decided to ask them.

"So, now that I've finished, I have one question for you all. Why haven't you interrupted me? Don't you have any questions?"

They all looked at each other briefly, as if startled by the suddenness of the question. Then Scyt- wait, no. Then _Takeshi_ looked at me and said, "Scyther Scythe."

I looked at Joey, who was laying back on the bed, waiting for his translation. When he said nothing, I nudged him and said, "Translation, please?"

"Huh, what?" he said, sitting up suddenly. "Oh, right, sorry. He said 'Vince taught us to hold our questions until the end of someone's story'."

"Oh," I said. 'Duh, how stupid of me for not thinking of that,' I thought. I almost slapped myself in the forehead, which was a nasty habit of mine, but I resisted the urge.

"So, what are your questions?" I said, getting over my hatred at my own stupidity.

"Gallade?" Tsurugi asked.

"'What happened to the Pokemon League?'" Joey translated sleepily. He looked just about ready to collapse.

"Pokemon League? What the heck is that?" I asked. I looked at Stephanie, then at Lizzy. They both shrugged their shoulders.

"Gallade Gall?" Tsurugi exclaimed. He looked surprised, and so did Takeshi and Glisc- I mean Sasori. 'Man, I have got to stop doing that,' I thought.

"'You don't know what the Pokemon League is?'" Joey translated.

"Nope, not a clue," I said. No use trying to scrounge up any information, because the truth is I had never even heard the phrase 'Pokemon League' before.

"Gall…" Tsurugi said, sounding disappointed.

"'Oh…'" Joey translated.

"Sorry about that," I apologized. "Any other questions?"

Sasori raised his claw. "Gliscor?"

Silence followed as we waited for Joey's translation. I looked down at him, just to see that he had fallen asleep on the bed.

"Joey!" I shouted, promptly waking him up.

"Ah!" he shouted, jumping up. He looked around and saw me with an angry look on my face. "Don't you know to let sleeping dogs lie?"

"Yes, I do," I said. "Unfortunately for you, you're not a dog."

"But I am part Lucario, which is a dog-like Pokemon," Joey argued.

"But Lucario aren't dogs, they only look like them," I argued right back.

"Oh… Damn." Joey muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"So, did you even hear what Sasori asked?"

"Uhh, yeah?" Joey said, although it sounded like more of a question.

I sighed and said, "Please repeat your question for Joey, Sasori."

"Gliscor?" he said once more.

"Alright, he said, 'So, what now?'" Joey told us.

"Well, we're not too sure," I said. "We can't figure out the best way to reverse what's happened in the past century. The only thing that we have on our 'To-Do List' is to go check out some sort of shrine up on Fein Mountain. Joey saw it while he was escaping his captors, and he said that he saw a symbol there that looked like the one on my medallion."

"Scythe Scyther?" Takeshi questioned.

"'Is that why we're here?'"

"Yes, that's the first reason you all are here. We need your help to get up Fein Mountain and past the territorial Pokemon there," I explained.

"Gallade?"

"'What's the other reason?'" Joey translated.

"Well, I figured that you all wanted to be out of those Pokeballs after being in them for so long," I said. "I know that I wouldn't like being trapped in one of those things for that long."

The three looked at each other briefly before huddling together, whispering about something.

"Um, Joey? What are they saying?" Lizzy asked.

"I can't hear them, they're being too quiet," Joey replied.

"You can't hear them, even though you can hear a cop car coming down a street about a minute before we can?" I questioned.

"Uhh… Yeah?"

Is that his favorite phrase or something? That twice he's said that in the last few minutes!

"Joey," I said, glaring at him.

"Hey, they're having a private conversation! I'm not going to broadcast that to the rest of you! I hate being able to hear it myself!" Joey said.

"He's right, Kyle," Stephanie said. "It's a private conversation, we shouldn't invade that."

I hung my head for a second. "Ugh, fine. Whatever."

A few more tense minutes passed while we waited for them to end their 'group huddle'. Even though I couldn't understand them, they seemed to be arguing about something, and it appeared that it was primarily between Sasori and Tsurugi. Takeshi appeared to be uninterested in the conversation what so ever. He just sat back a little from the other two, listening but not contributing.

After another minute, Takeshi finally said something that made the other two stop completely and think for a second. They looked at each other and then nodded. The huddle broke, and we all sat up, anticipating what they had to say.

Takeshi spoke first. "Scyther Scyther, Scythe Scyther." I saw Takeshi look back momentarily at Tsurugi and Sasori when he said the last part.

"He said, 'We have decided that we will help you to reach that shrine, because you are Vince's great-grandson'," Joey translated for us.

"Scyther," Takeshi added.

"'On one condition'," Joey said.

'And what might that be?" I asked.

Takeshi looked back at Sasori and Tsurugi before continuing. "Scythe Scyther."

Joey looked at them for a second before saying, "That's it?"

Takeshi nodded, while Lizzy, Stephanie, and I looked at Joey, wanting desperately to know what they wanted.

"OK then," Joey said. "They want to stay out of their Pokeballs unless it's absolutely necessary that they do go in them."

I chuckled slightly. "I'd imagine that nearly one hundred years in one of those things would have the same effect on me," I said. "You've got yourself a deal there."

I stuck out my hand to shake with Takeshi, but he just stared at it.

"Oh, right. No hand to shake," I said, withdrawing my hand and rubbing the back of my head with my other. Takeshi smiled as if telling me not to worry about it.

"Alright, now that we've got this all settled," I said, "let's discuss our game plan."

"Can I make a suggestion?" Joey said.

"Sure, go ahead," I told him.

"Maybe we should rest until night falls again…" he said, motioning out the window next to the bed.

"He's right, it's already dawn," Lizzy said.

I looked out the window and saw that they were right. The sun had already started to come up, and the darkness of last night was being banished from the land, replaced by the light of a new day.

"Sounds like a plan to me," I said.

"Besides, I'm exhausted," Joey said. "I'm definitely going to need some sleep before I can carry anyone anywhere."

"That makes sense," I said.

"Hey, it looks like Koyuki's got a head start on us already!" Stephanie remarked, pointing behind me.

"Huh?" I turned around to see Koyuki lying down right behind me, fast asleep.

"Koyuki!" I exclaimed.

They all burst out laughing at Koyuki, while I just tried to understand how he could do that.

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A few minutes later, we had all settled down. Somehow, we managed to squeeze Joey and Stephanie on the bed with Koyuki, while Sasori hung from the ceiling. The rest of us were on the floor, covered up by the spare blankets that Joey had under the bed. I was closest to the door, with Lizzy next to me. Takeshi and Tsurugi lay in the center of the floor, on the rug.

I had laid there for about an hour, desperately trying to find sleep. However, it continued to elude my grasp. No matter what I did, I just couldn't. I kept thinking of how things used to be. How my life was when everyone just ignored me.

I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up, shirking the blanket that had been covering me, and walked outside.

I stood on the small platform outside the door and looked up at the sky. The sun had climbed halfway up into the bluish-gray plain, and clouds lazily drifted around.

Every once in a while, a cloud would cover up the sun, sending everything into shadows. But, then it would pass, returning the world to the way it was before.

I don't know how long I stood there, but it felt like forever.

During that eternity, I thought about Granddad and Grandma.

About the house that I used to live in.

About the neighbors.

…About the memories that it stood for.

I felt so hollow during the time I spent on that platform.

"What's on your mind?" I heard a voice come from behind me. Startled, I whipped around to reveal Lizzy standing in the doorway.

"Oh, nothing," I said, returning to the view.

"It doesn't look like nothing to me," she said, walking up next to me.

"Fine, you got me," I said, facing her. "I was thinking about the way life used to be."

"Life as in your life before last Friday, or life in general before the Grand Revolution?"

"My life before Friday," I answered.

"What about your life before Friday?" she asked, digging deeper into my thoughts.

"Well, it's just that…" I began. I was having a hard time trying to put my thoughts into words. "If I had never done what I did in World History that day, my life wouldn't be in this mess."

"What do you mean by 'mess'?" she questioned.

"I mean that this life is just too confusing for me," I said, sighing. "I almost wish that I hadn't done that stupid thing on Friday."

"You can't mean that," Lizzy said.

"Why?"

"If you hadn't done that thing on Friday, you would have probably never met Koyuki, Stephanie, Joey. And you definitely wouldn't had met Takeshi, Tsurugi, or Sasori!" she said, yelling the last part.

"Yes, but I would also not be wanted everywhere by the police!" I yelled back, letting out all of my anger. "I could be living my life the way it used to be!"

"What kind of a life was that?" Lizzy rebutted, shouting. "Nobody outside of your family cared about you except for me!"

After that, I just stood there, thoughts of all the unhappiness that my life had brought me jumbling up inside my head.

"I… I don't know, Lizzy," I said. "…All I ever wanted was to live a normal life." The last part came out, barely above a whisper. I could feel the tears threatening to drip down my cheeks. I tried to force them back, but I was quickly loosing that battle.

Lizzy hugged me, and I hugged her back. "I understand, Kyle," she said, her voice sounding like a mother's. Something that I never had.

The embrace lasted for a few minutes, and I felt the anger and sadness wash away, replaced with something else. It wasn't exactly happiness, but more along the lines of contented. When the hug ended, I just looked at her, and she looked at me.

Lizzy finally spoke up by saying, "Well, I'm glad that you're feeling better now."

"Yeah," was all I managed to say. I was still deep in thought, but about happy memories instead of depressing ones.

We stood there for another few seconds, until Lizzy broke the silence again.

"Let's get back inside and get some sleep."

"OK," I said.

We walked back into the tree house and laid back down where we had been when we first lay down. I pulled my blanket back over my body and buried my head in my pillow, ready for a nice, long rest.

"Goodnight, Kyle," Lizzy said.

"Technically, it isn't nighttime," I told her rather matter-of-factly.

She chuckled slightly and said, "Well, then, good day, Kyle. Sleep well."

"You too, Lizzy."

I put my head down into one of the pillows that Joey had also provided us with and, for the first time in as long as I could remember…

"You too…"

…I fell asleep peacefully.

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	12. Into Enemy Territory

A/N: Hey, all readers! Guess who's back from the dead! No, it's not your great-great-grandparents, it's me! I'm sorry for taking so long, I just got caught up in the huge web that is my life. That, and I temporarily lost my muse, then I got Pokemon Platinum. Which, might I add, rocks!

Anywho, thanks to Nanashi Chimera, AzureFlames, Wings that bring the fate, Ketchum Kid (), and ReLeeS for your reviews! I hope you're all still out there! And another thanks to TJay for beta reading!

And a reply to Ketchum Kid ():

As long as you read and review, I don't care when. Thanks for the praise on Joey. I've already told TJay, Joey's original creator, about that. And I'm truly sorry for taking so long. I was without inspiration until recently.

Now, onto the story!

* * *

Chapter Eleven – Into Enemy Territory

Of course, since life hates me, that peace can't last for long.

I didn't dream at all that night, and it felt too soon when I woke up. The blaring sounds and loud voices that came from all around didn't help either.

'Wait, since when were there people here?' I thought.

Then one voice seemed to come out of nowhere and drown out all of the rest. It was extremely loud, and very harsh on my ears. I wondered what it felt like for Joey or Koyuki. But then I saw that they were both still asleep.

What the voice said was even worse than how it sounded.

"Come out with your hands up!" the voice boomed. "We have you surrounded!"

Now where have we heard that before?

'Shit, the police have found us!' I thought. I scrambled to my feet, waking Lizzy in the process.

"What the hell was that?" she asked.

OK, so she was already awake. Good, less explaining for me.

"I think that the police have found us," I said, trying not to panic. "Help me wake the others."

She nodded and stood up. As I walked up to the bed, where Joey and Koyuki were still peacefully asleep, which was really ironic, seeing as they have the largest ears of all of us. Stephanie, on the other hand, was wide-awake. She was looking around sleepily with a perplexed look on her face.

"Was that really the police?" she asked.

I peeked out the window as far as I could without being seen. I saw a few cops standing around the tree house, each one having a pistol or a tazer. There were a few bloodhounds on leashes, and they were all yanking at their ropes, desperately trying to get to us.

"Well, I'm no expert, but I think that a bunch of men in blue uniforms carrying guns and tazers count as police. Now help me wake Joey and Koyuki so that we can get the hell out of here."

Stephanie proceeded to shaking Joey multiple times until he was awake, so I took care of Koyuki. I reached over and picked him up, which somehow snapped him out of his dreamland.

"VEE!" he barked in surprise. I put a hand over his mouth.

"Shhh!" I whispered. "The police are outside. We've got to leave."

He nodded as best he could with a hand on his mouth, and I set him down. I turned around to see that Joey was already up, and so were Sasori and Takeshi. Stephanie was sitting beside Joey, filling him in on what was going on. Lizzy was in the process of waking up Tsurugi. I was surprised that she managed to wake Takeshi without getting slashed.

Luckily, Lizzy didn't have much trouble with Tsurugi, either. Soon, he was up and alert to his surroundings.

"Alright, so do we all know what's going on?" I asked everyone quietly. They silently nodded.

"Good," I said. "Now, how are we going to get out of this one?"

"Well, I could try to fly us all out of here," Joey suggested.

"But they've got guns," Lizzy pointed out. "They could easily shoot us down."

"Ugh," I groaned, slapping myself in the forehead. "Next time, remind me to not get on the bad side of the men with the guns."

"Gallade," Tsurugi said.

"Really?" Joey exclaimed.

"What?" I asked.

"He said he can teleport us!" Joey answered.

"Is that right? How far?" I asked.

"Gallade, Gall," Tsurugi replied.

"Anywhere within a mile of here," Joey translated.

"Did I tell you how much you rock?" I said to Tsurugi. He just smiled and said "Gallade."

"I'm guessing that that was something along the lines of 'I know'."

He nodded. Then he followed it up by saying, "Gallade," and motioning for us to gather around him.

"I don't need a translation for that," I said as I walked over to him.

"Me neither," Stephanie said, who was currently gathering our small amount of items and stuffing them in a bag. Once she had gathered everything, she joined us around Tsurugi.

"Alright, let's get the hell out of here!" I shouted.

Apparently, I had said that just a bit too loudly, because the police started shouting orders, and I could hear people climbing the ladder. But just then, Tsurugi began to teleport us, and the treehouse's room sort of melted away, like water sliding down the side of a car window. The forest's trees and bushes replaced it, and the loud noises made by scrambling policemen were replaced with the sweet chirps of the birds sitting in the trees.

I looked around, observing the new scenery that was so suddenly forced on my eyes. The rest of the group was following suit, all except Tsurugi, who was probably fairly used to it by now.

"OK, we made it out of there safely, but we're only a mile away from the police," I said. "Our rest has been cut short."

"And rather rudely," Joey added.

"Still, we've got to get further away."

"Are we going to have to fly on Joey again?" Stephanie asked.

"Yep, and that means that you three," I looked at Takeshi, Tsurugi, and Sasori, "are going to have to go back in the balls."

They groaned, and I said, "I know that you don't want to, but it's absolutely necessary that you do. Just like we agreed earlier."

They shared looks, then sadly nodded and sighed.

"Don't worry, it won't be too long," I reassured them. Then I fished out their Pokeballs from my pocket and returned them.

Just as they shrunk back to marble size and I had jammed them in my pocket, I heard a loud shriek from behind me. I slowly turned around and looked up to see a huge, tan bird-like creature with huge wings and an abnormally long beak. It was staring menacingly at me.

Then, before I could do anything, it lunged its beak at me. It was so quick that I couldn't even see it as it grazed my shoulder. Immediately, pain coursed through it, and I gripped it tightly as a reaction. I managed a glance at it, and it wasn't too badly damaged, but the cut left was deep enough to draw blood.

The strange bird made another thrust, this time, barely scraping my left leg. It did about as much damage as it did to my shoulder, and I collapsed out of a mixture of shock and pain. Lizzy tried to run over to help me, but the bird kept her back by jabbing at her.

Just as it reared back for a third shot, something slammed into it. I was able to see what it was as it came down. It was Koyuki, and he was moving fast.

Koyuki skidded to a stop at my side, and the bird regained balance. The two stared each other down for a while, and then I realized what this must be. Whatever the bird was, it was a Pokemon, and this was a Pokemon battle.

And since I'm Koyuki's trainer, it was my job to command.

I tried to stand and was able to make it to my feet, even though I was a bit wobbly. I looked at Koyuki, then at the wild Pokemon, then back. I truthfully had no idea what to do. I didn't know what Koyuki could do, nor did I know how to battle. So I just shouted out, "Do whatever it is that you just did!" and hoped for the best.

Suddenly, Koyuki took off like a rocket, heading right at the bird. It easily sidestepped Koyuki and whirled around to face him.

"Try it again!" I commanded, and Koyuki obediently did so.

And was sidestepped once again.

Then I thought of something. It was surprisingly simple, yet brilliant.

"Use that attack to confuse the thing!"

Koyuki began running around the bird at high speeds, zigzagging back and forth randomly. The bird had an impossible time keeping up, and if this were a cartoon, its neck would be tied in a knot.

Finally, the bird had no clue as to where Koyuki was going, and I decided that now was the time to make the move.

"Alright, now, hit it with everything you've got!" I yelled. Koyuki changed directions on a dime and crashed right into the bird's chest.

It obviously felt the hit, for it screeched out in pain. Koyuki landed behind the bird and did a quick U-turn. He then charged at the bird again, hitting it in the back.

Koyuki managed to do this about three more times, and then the bird looked about ready to collapse. Koyuki slammed into it one more time, and that finally did it in.

The bird fell down on its back, and it looked like it wasn't going to get back up anytime soon. I figured that it was finally beaten. Koyuki came trotting back towards me, extremely proud of his accomplishment.

Then the bird got back onto its feet.

"You have got to be kidding me," I said. Koyuki turned around and despaired at the thought of battling it for much longer. I could tell that he was already tiring from his rapid panting.

"Koyuki, try hitting it one more time," I said, and he nodded, then rushed at the bird thing head on. But right as he jumped, the bird knocked him down with a wing, and then made a lightning-fast peck at Koyuki's exposed chest.

The impact of the jab sent Koyuki flying back into a tree. I would have rushed over to him, but I was still unable to get my left leg to function well enough to let me walk.

Koyuki managed to pull himself up, but I could see the blood dripping from his chest onto the ground. That peck had done some real damage. Koyuki knew that too, but he looked determined to take that bird down.

Then a screech slammed into my ears. I turned around and saw that the bird was nearly on top of me, about to deliver another devastating peck. I closed my eyes and braced for the painful stab that I knew was coming.

But it never came. After a second or so, I opened my eyes to see that the bird was no longer standing in front of me. Instead, it was lying down on its side. Half encased in ice.

"How the…" I started, turning towards where Koyuki was. But he wasn't there. In his place stood a light blue fox-like creature that stood about two feet tall. It had dark blue diamonds down its back and on the tip of its tail. That, along with its ears, was shaped like a larger diamond, and it looked as if it was wearing a fur cap on its head, with tassels that were also diamond shaped. The tips of these had the same smaller diamond on them as the tail did. It was a Glaceon. Koyuki had evolved into a freaking Glaceon!

Then I spotted something out of the ordinary. There was a small blue patch on his shoulder that was shaped like a pair of overlapping triangles. I knew that I had seen it before, but I couldn't remember where.

Then it hit me. It was the same shape that was on the Glaceon that had attacked Fielder around a hundred years ago! That meant that Koyuki was related to that Glaceon!

"Holy shit," was all that I managed to say.

"Glaceon," Koyuki said in a much sweeter voice. He then rushed straight at the downed bird, knocking it back a few feet. This time, it was out cold. Literally, since ice was still clinging to its body.

Then Koyuki came running over to me at full speed. He tackled me to the ground, licking my face wildly. I put out my hands and pushed him off. He stood there, looking at me with gleaming eyes. I reached out to stroke his fur, and then the pain hit me.

During the whole fuss that the battle caused, I completely forgot about the cut in my shoulder. Stephanie, Lizzy, and Joey were finally able to approach me with the bird unconscious. Lizzy pulled a small first-aid kit out of our bag and opened it up.

Inside were a bunch of bandages, gauze sheets, ointments, and other medical equipment. Lizzy was able to locate two large gauze patches and medical tape, as well as a tube of antibiotic cream. She quickly applied them to both the cut on my shoulder and the one on my leg. And while they didn't stop hurting, it did feel better to have them covered up.

I shakily stood back up with help from Stephanie and Joey. Koyuki was gazing at me, a little worry in his joyful eyes.

When it was clear that I was able to stand on my own, Joey and Stephanie backed up. I reached down with my undamaged arm and stroked Koyuki.

"Wow, I can't believe that he evolved!" Stephanie said. "That was so cool!"

"Yeah…" I said, staring at Koyuki, trying to wrap my mind around what had just happened.

"Why did that thing attack me like that?" I asked. "And what the hell was it?"

"I think that it was a Fearow," Joey said. "As to why it attacked you, maybe it just felt that we were a threat to it, seeing as how we just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. So, feeling threatened, it did what it knows to do in that kind of situation: attack."

"Hey, what happened to that cut in Koyuki's chest?" Lizzy suddenly asked.

"Huh?" I asked, confused at the sudden subject change.

"What happened to the cut in Koyuki's chest?" she reiterated.

Joey knelt down and looked at Koyuki's chest. "It's gone!" he said in disbelief.

"What?" we all said at the same time.

"How could it just disappear?" I asked.

"I don't know, but we shouldn't be questioning this," Joey said.

"You're right, we should be thankful that Koyuki is fine," Stephanie added.

"Besides, we've got to get going soon, or else the police will catch up to us," Joey said as he began to transform.

It only took a few seconds, but it was still strange to watch. When he had finished, Lizzy and Stephanie helped to get me onto his neck, and Koyuki just jumped right up, barely fitting in my lap. Stephanie and Lizzy sat in their original places, and Joey flapped his wings a few times to stretch them out. Then he shot off the ground and rapidly ascended into the sky.

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A/N: Once again, sorry for the long time it took me to update, please don't hurt me!


	13. The Shrine

A/N: Yo, peeps! Here comes Chapter 12! Not much to say, so enjoy!

Thanks to my reviewers, Nanashi Chimera, AzureFlames, Ketchum Kid (), Melody Konami (), and ReLeeS. More thanks to TJay for betaing, and wish him a happy birthday, even though it was a week ago... Hehe. My bad.

To Ketchum Kid ():

Yeah, I find that strange, too. Mainly the male Kirlias and Gardevoirs. And it did kind of seem like that episode, except more blood and violence. XD

To Melody Konami ():

Thanks! I really like Glaceon, too. My other favorites are Jolteon and Umbreon.

Now, onto the story!

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Chapter Twelve – The Shrine

We shot through the sky at high speed, headed straight for the mountains. We were all silent; the wind was too loud to be able to talk over. Instead, we all focused on staying on Joey. Lizzy and Stephanie were doing fine, but Koyuki and I had to struggle to stay in place.

With Koyuki's evolution, he had nearly doubled in size. He barely fit on my lap, and what didn't fit in my lap was on Joey's neck. I could no longer form the protective "cage" around him: he had outgrown it. Every gust caused Koyuki to loose balance for a second, and he nearly fell off at least five times. Luckily, he always had a grip around Joey's neck, even though it was a tenuous grip.

I was also having a difficult time staying balanced. Since I was sitting right in front of Joey's wings, every flap made me wobble. It didn't help any that Koyuki was also using me to stabilize himself.

Despite the hard flight, I was able to look at the scenery below us. It was amazing. The leafless trees spreading off in every direction, the natural contours of the land, and the small patches of snow left from the weekend created a beautiful scene. Even without life, the forest seemed to give off the essence of natural beauty.

Off to my left, I could barely see the clear, reflective waters of Glint Lake. The lake was extremely calm and serene; not a single wave disturbed the water's glassy surface. It seemed to be frozen in time, forever locked in that still and peaceful moment.

Then, Joey made a turn, removing the calm image from my view. It was replaced with the rising hills and dispersing vegetation that signaled the start of the mountains. I had never been out this far, and I had only seen this landscape in movies.

Straight ahead, the land looked as if it had suddenly shot up and formed large cliffs and hills. The vegetation was so scattered that most of the area looked completely devoid of all life.

We flew further into the mountains. The forest became harder and harder to see through the rising peaks. Eventually, the forest was completely removed from view.

Looking upon the barren scene was greatly depressing. There was no movement whatsoever. At least in the forest, the wind blew the branches. But here, there felt like there was no life. It was quite a bleak sight.

We did, however, see a lone mountain lion. We stared down at it, thankful to see something living, while it stared up at us. I briefly wondered what it was thinking about. It must have felt odd to see the dead scenery of the mountains for so long just to look up and see three humans and a blue fox-like creature riding on a green dragon.

We flew deeper and deeper into the mountains, and the scenery varied only slightly, never leaving the sparse, rocky theme. I couldn't tell how far we had gone; the unchanging landscape had no landmarks, and the speed at which we were going made it even harder to determine the miles.

It felt like an eternity, riding on Joey's back, but in all truth, it was probably only fifteen or so minutes. The main cause for this effect was probably the featureless land. With nothing to take our attention, the seconds seemed like minutes, and minutes like hours.

Then, I glimpsed something… different. It wasn't marvelous or spectacular, just different from the normal landscape. It was a lighter gray instead of the uniform browns and dark grays, and its shape gave off the feeling of a man-made structure.

"That's it!" Joey exclaimed with great relief behind his voice.

"Thank Mew!" I shouted, raising my arms in praise. However, they snapped quickly back to their original positions when I nearly fell off Joey.

"What?" Stephanie asked. "Where?"

"Over there!" I shouted over the wind. Risking a nasty fall, I pointed a finger at the strange structure.

"I don't see anything!" Lizzy yelled.

"What?" I yelled back, unable to hear her over the rushing wind.

"I said I don't see a thing!" Lizzy repeated herself, much louder this time.

I was about to ask her what she meant by that, but before I could, Joey began a steep dive down towards the structure. As we got closer, I could make out stairs on one side, and a vertical drop-off on the other. There was a large top layer that had some sort of pedestal thing on the edge of the vertical drop-off side. That was definitely the shrine.

Joey made a swift touchdown and stopped quite skillfully, despite the heavy load. I climbed down and stretched my limbs, tired after the long flight. Lizzy, Stephanie, and Koyuki did the same. Afterwards, we looked around and studied our surroundings.

There wasn't much to see. It was just a small, flat plane. Rocks and boulders were scattered everywhere, varying largely in size and shape. Some were larger than a man, while others were smaller than my hand.

The only feature that stood out was the shrine. It rose up a few stories, towering over us. Its presence felt overwhelmingly powerful; it felt like something hugely important to someone or something was being guarded at the top. It seemed too simple a structure to be guarding anything, though.

After looking around for a few minutes, I reached into my pocket and brought out the three Pokeballs that held Takeshi, Tsurugi, and Sasori. In a flash of red light, they stood before us.

"Scyther," Takeshi said, sounding extremely disgruntled.

"He hates it in there," Joey said, translating like he was a machine programmed only to translate.

"Sorry about that…" I said. "Oh, by the way, Koyuki evolved!"

"Gall Gallade," Tsurugi said.

"He was wondering who the Glaceon was," Joey translated.

"OK, now that we're all up to date," Lizzy said, "can we focus on the fact that both Stephanie and I can't see this shrine thing?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. "It's right there." I pointed over to the shrine, right behind Lizzy. She turned to look.

"Oh, ha ha, nice try Kyle," she said sarcastically, turning around.

"What?"

"There's nothing there!" she shouted.

"Yes, there is! It's right there!" I shouted back. "Don't you guys see it?"

"I see it," Joey said.

All of the Pokemon nodded in agreement.

"See, they all see it, so why can't you?" I asked. "Is this some sort of prank you're trying to pull on me?"

"No, Kyle, we really can't see it," Stephanie said, the honesty showing in her voice.

"Well, that's strange…" Joey stated.

"See it or not, I'm going to get to the top and figure out what the heck this thing is for," I said, walking past Lizzy. I got to the shrine and started climbing the steps. I had only gone up two steps when I heard Stephanie yell, "Kyle!"

"What?" I asked, turning around.

"He's gone!" Lizzy said, dumbfounded.

"What do you mean, 'I'm gone'? I'm right here!"

"He's not gone, guys, he's on the stairs to the shrine," Joey said flatly.

"There is no shrine!" Lizzy practically screamed.

Joey grabbed her arm at that moment and dragged her to the shrine. I moved up a few steps to give Joey room to climb on. He pulled Lizzy up the first few steps and said, "Do you see the shrine now?"

"I do now," she said, a slight amount of embarrassment in her voice. "Sorry for blowing up like that…"

"No problem," I said, though it was a problem. I really didn't appreciate being told that I was wrong when I was right. "Go get Stephanie, Joey."

"I'm on it."

Stephanie was starting to panic by now, and when Joey stepped off of the shrine and 'reappeared', she was so relieved.

"Oh, Joey!" she cried. "I was so scared when you just disappeared!"

"Come on, Stephanie," Joey said, grabbing her arm and bringing her to the stairs. "That means all of you, too."

Tsurugi, Takeshi, Sasori, and Koyuki all looked at each other and shrugged. They then followed Joey and Stephanie up the stairs.

By then, Lizzy and I were halfway up the steps. From behind us, we heard Stephanie say, "Oh, now I see it." I shook my head and chuckled, still climbing the stairs.

"So, what do you think is at the top of this thing?" Lizzy asked.

"Truthfully, I haven't got a clue," I said. "Maybe some sort of place where an old civilization used to pay respect to some god."

"Could be, but why would I not be able to see it? And why could you see it?"

"Hmm… Good questions, " I said. I really wanted to know the answers to those questions, too.

There was a gust of wind next to me, and I saw Takeshi and Tsurugi racing each other up the steps.

"Careful, you guys! I don't want any injuries!" I shouted up to them.

"You do know that they probably didn't hear you," Lizzy said.

"Yeah, but I can at least try."

A few more minutes and we had reached the top. Tsurugi and Takeshi were up there, waiting for us.

"So, which one of you won?" I asked.

Tsurugi pointed to Takeshi, mumbling something unintelligible. Of course, I couldn't have understood it if I did hear what he was saying, but it did get the point across.

"Well, congrats, Takeshi, you won yourself a long wait for everyone else," I said sarcastically.

Tsurugi began to chuckle, and I turned to him and said, "You realize that this applies to you, too." He stopped.

I looked away from them and at the shrine. It could barely be called that, though. It was more like a pedestal, with a set of indentations on the center. The rest of the area on the top level was bare. It was fairly large in size, large enough to hold around twenty or so people.

A couple of minutes later, Joey, Stephanie, Koyuki, and Sasori showed up. "I hate stairs," Stephanie said, panting heavily.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up," I said.

Joey said nothing. He just smiled and walked up to me and gave me a playful punch in my arm.

"Hehe, I'm just kidding, dude," I said, holding my arm. "Ow, that hurt."

"Sorry, forgot that I'm part Pokemon there," he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"How do you forget something like that?" Lizzy asked incredulously.

"I was about to ask the same thing," Stephanie said.

I chuckled, still rubbing my arm. Turning away, I saw Koyuki having a conversation with Takeshi, Tsurugi, and Sasori. From the way Koyuki was talking, I was pretty sure that he was telling them about how he evolved. And probably embellishing it.

Then I looked at the shrine. There was something strangely inviting about it, so I walked over to it. It was on the edge of the platform, and standing in front of it, I could see a magnificent view of the valley below us.

I looked down at the pedestal and saw that there was a small circle shaped indent with a picture of some strange creature. It was a long, snake-like creature with a pair of short arms and small fin-like protrusions from its long body. It looked sort of like the thing on my medallion.

Then the idea that changed my life entered my head. 'Maybe my medallion fits in there,' I thought. So I took off my medallion and pressed it down into the indentation. There was a flash of light and a deep rumble. I backed away from the pedestal, but nothing else happened.

"What was that?" Lizzy said, running up to my side. Everyone else followed her.

"I just put my medallion into the indent on the pedestal," I said. "That's all I did."

"We might have bigger problems than that," Joey said, pointing at the sky. I looked up, following his finger… paw… hand… whatever it is. Anyway, I looked up and saw what he was talking about. There was something long and green soaring through the sky, twisting and turning. The aerobatics it did put Joey's flying to shame.

It finally settled its course… and was flying straight at us. We ducked as it rushed right over our heads. Standing back up and turning around, we saw it doing more crazy tricks in the air.

Then it came back at us again. It zipped past on our right, then whipped around and flew back past our left. It did some more strange twists and flew past us another time.

We turned once more, scared silly of this thing, and awed by it at the same time. I had no idea what it was, but I knew that it couldn't be an animal. It was either a really powerful Pokemon or a god.

It finally stopped, hovering behind the shrine. Its head was nearly at eye level with us, but its huge body was easily visible behind it.

We held back from it; it was too intimidating to approach. Then, it spoke.

"Don't be afraid, I am not here to harm you," it said without ever moving its mouth.

"Telepathy…" Joey whispered.

"Well, I'm surprised that you know what that is," it said, somehow hearing what I could barely hear, even when I was standing right next to the person who said it.

"Come closer, please," it said, "I wish to talk to you."

I hesitantly stepped forward until I was only a few feet from it.

"Something tells me that you are the one who summoned me," it said.

"What?" I asked, truly confused.

"You are the one who put the medallion in the pedestal, right?"

"Um, I guess," I said, still intimidated by the thing's presence.

"Since that is so, let me formally introduce myself," the creature said. "I am Rayquaza. And I know exactly why you are here."

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	14. Rayquaza

A/N: Hey, guys, I'm trying to get this story up as fast as I can because I'm leaving for a week and a half and won't have internet til I get back. Thanks to all you reviewers: Lyla D., Ketchum Kid, Nanashi Chimera, AzureFlames, markrock18, and ReLeeS.

Ketchum Kid: Yeah, I know that it seems like so many can talk telepathically, but Rayquaza's excuse is that he's a legendary.

Now, onto the story!

* * *

Chapter Thirteen – Rayquaza

"You do?" I asked the enormous green being.

"Yes, I do. I've been watching you ever since I found out that you had the medallion," Rayquaza answered.

'That's kinda creepy,' I thought. 'Wait, can he read minds, too? I hope not…'

"I was waiting for the day that you'd finally arrive here," it continued.

'Apparently not.'

"Why were you watching me, then?" I asked.

"Because you had the medallion."

"What's so important about the medallion?"

"Isn't it obvious?" it asked. "It summons me when reunited with the shrine."

"And why do I have it?" I asked.

Meanwhile, behind me, Lizzy was beginning to get angry. She grew madder and madder until she finally burst.

"HEY! WHAT ARE WE BACK HERE?" she screamed. "CHOPPED LIVER?!?!?!?"

I turned around and stared at her. Joey and Stephanie were looking at her in surprise, while Koyuki was backing away. Sasori was backing up a bit as well, and Tsurugi and Takeshi pretty much did nothing.

Rayquaza, however, had a different reaction. He… she… it just looked at her and chuckled. "Oh, humans are so funny…" it said.

"What's that mean?" Lizzy asked, still irritated.

'I had no idea that she could get that angry… And is there any reason as to why she is?' I Pondered.

Rayquaza stopped chuckling. "Sorry, it's just that I haven't seen humans in so long. It's been so long since I've been yelled at like that."

"Anywho… I'm sorry for ignoring you, friends of Kyle," it said.

"Wait, how do you know my name?" I asked it, looking back at it.

"I've been watching you, remember?" it reminded me.

"Oh…"

"And I believe that I know your names, as well," Rayquaza said, looking at my friends. "Let's see, Lizzy, Stephanie, Koyuki, Joey, Sasori, Tsurugi, and Takeshi."

"Yeah, that's about right," I said. "Pretty good."

"Thank you. Now let's get to why you're here," it said.

"Before we do, can I ask a question?" Joey asked.

"You just did," Rayquaza said.

'Wow, a legend with a sense of humor…' I thought. 'Don't hear that often… and you see it less…'

"… May I ask you two questions?" Joey said.

"Yes, you may."

"So, why could Kyle, the Pokemon, and I see the shrine, but Lizzy and Stephanie could not?"

"Well, because they are human," Rayquaza asked.

"But so is Kyle," Stephanie added in.

"Yes, but he was wearing the medallion."

"Oh, that makes sense," Joey stated, satisfied. "I guess," he added.

We sat there for a few seconds, waiting for Rayquaza to do something. Then he spoke.

"Well? What is your second question?"

We all fell over at its joke, even Takeshi and Tsurugi.

'He's worse than my granddad,' I thought. 'Granddad… I hope he's doing OK…'

"Hehe… you humans are too easy to mess with…" Rayquaza said.

"WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!?!?!?" Lizzy screamed.

I cringed. I had never heard her that loud, ever. Not in all the years I had been friends with her had she been that pissed at anybody. Either Rayquaza really knew how to piss people off, or something's wrong with Lizzy.

Rayquaza just chuckled again. "Nothing, it's just the fact that I haven't seen or talked with humans in such a long time that I forgot how funny they were."

"Now, on to the reason you are here," it said, suddenly serious again. "I know what you have been doing for the past few days, and it is quite interesting. I have watched the progress of this region since the first days of what you call the 'Grand Revolution'. It wasn't pretty."

It went on. "I've seen mass killings of wild Pokemon, the elimination of anything Pokemon-related, and the hunting of families and individuals that are believed to harbor Pokemon." I couldn't help but cringe when he said that, for it brought up bad memories.

"Yes, I also know of that, Kyle," said Rayquaza.

"Of what?" Stephanie asked.

"Of how Kyle's parents were killed by a group who believed that they harbored Pokemon."

Everyone suddenly looked at me. "Is that true, Kyle?" Stephanie asked.

"Unfortunately…" I answered. "But I'd rather not tell the story… It's too painful…"

"Then I will do it for you," Rayquaza said.

"Why?" I asked, startled.

"They need to hear this story. It is very important," it said. "I can't tell you why, it just is."

"OK…" I said.

"Good, but I would have told them anyway. Now, this is what happened."

"When Kyle was only a few years old, he lived with his mom and dad in a medium sized city, at the tip of the Ontra Peninsula. It was a nice enough town, but with it had horrible dark side. There was this group that went by the name, 'The Black X'. They existed to find and kill anyone who was rumored to be kind to Pokemon."

"This group got tips from citizens, about who was harboring Pokemon and where they lived. Well, one day, The Black X got false information on how Kyle's parents were harboring Pokemon. It was a convincing enough tip though, since Kyle's family lived on a large plot of land on the edge of a forest, which they figured was a good place to hide something like that."

"The Black X decided that this was enough proof and sent a few members to Kyle's house one Saturday afternoon. Kyle was in the living room, which was not adjacent to the front door. His parents were in the kitchen, which was adjacent to the front door, fixing a midday snack for Kyle. That was when the doorbell rang, and the defining moment for Kyle here."

"His dad went to answer it, just as simple task. When he opened the door and saw the two men, who were both dressed in black shirts and black jeans. They only asked one question, one of the guy on the right's hand twitching, as the closest thing to a warning; 'Is this the Rodric residence?' Kyle's dad responded with a single nod, not getting a chance to do anything else. The First man, the one with the twitchy fingers, pulled out a gun and shot Kyle's dad right in the chest. It was at point blank range."

I felt a tear start to slide down my cheek. Everyone was staring at me, disbelief plastered on their faces.

"There's more," Rayquaza said. "The men then walked in through the doorway, Both looking in different directions. Kyle's mom heard the gunshot and was walking towards the doorway, when they had entered. The jittery one looked at her and fired two more shots the second one jamming." Rayquaza took a breath, "He got one in the gut. The other guy, looked at her lying on the ground, He held his hand in front of his face, and shot. Straight through her head. She died only after the second shot."

Everyone's horrific looks, only deepening after that.

"Then they just left. Completely ignoring Kyle, luckily the poor kid wasn't watching them as it happened; a neighbor had heard the shots and went over to Kyle's house, and when he found the dead bodies, Kyle was shaking his mother, not understanding why she wouldn't get up. The neighbor called the police, and they came within a few minutes with an ambulance. Of course, it was too late to do anything about Kyle's parents; all they could do was explain to Kyle that his parents weren't going to wake up, and take the bodies."

"What happened then?" Joey asked.

"I was sent to live with my grandparents in Calbri City," I said. I could feel the tears trying to escape my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. "I tried hard to forget about what happened… I managed to block them out of my daily life. But I never really did. forget…"

Nobody talked or even moved for a few minutes afterwards. Never before had I felt so sad or depressed. I remember that about a month afterwards I started kindergarten. I never made any friends except for Lizzy because I was so sad that entire year. And that's the way it remained for the rest of my life. Until now, of course.

"Oh my God… that's so sad!" Stephanie said, a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah… I sometimes wonder what my life might have been like if my parents never died…"

A new wave of sadness overcame me as I thought about it. "I'm going to need a little time alone…" I said as I walked away from the group. I walked past everyone, barely glancing at everyone's expressions as I passed. Lizzy and Stephanie were looking concerned, and Joey was blank-faced. Takeshi, Tsurugi, and Sasori were surprised, and Koyuki was looking at me curiously.

I walked down a few flights of stairs before I sat down and stared into the mountains. They were so tall, so immobile. They didn't care about what happened in the world around them; they just sat there and did nothing. People could build cities and houses on a mountain's sides and it would continue on, uncaring.

"Why can't I be like one of those mountains…" I mused out loud. "They can't feel sadness… They can't feel pain… They can't feel anything…"

I sighed and put my head in my hands. I continued to stare at the mountains. "They're unmovable… Nothing could cause them to change in the slightest… If only I was like that, I wouldn't have to deal with these horrible emotions…"

"Ceon?" I jumped at the sudden sound. I turned around to see Koyuki standing on the steps just behind me. He walked up and sat down next to me.

"Hey, Koyuki… Did you hear all of that?" I asked.

Koyuki nodded in response.

"Oh…" I said, sighing. "Do you understand what I meant by all of that?" Koyuki shook his head this time.

"I'm saying I wish I didn't have to feel emotions, like those mountains don't have to. They just sit there, feeling nothing…"

Koyuki didn't say anything else, so I returned to staring at the mountains. I could see Koyuki doing the same out of the corner of my eye. I don't know how long we sat there, doing nothing, but after what seemed like eternity, Koyuki laid himself down right next to me, putting his head on my lap. I petted him as we rested there for another few minutes.

I don't exactly know when I started to feel better, but it didn't take long. Koyuki's presence seemed to help a lot. I felt less alone with him lying next to me… I realized at that moment that he was like the best friend I never truly had.

I was finally feeling ready to face the others after another few minutes. I poked Koyuki in an attempt at waking him, but he remained asleep. I pushed him a little, but still nothing. So I shoved him off of my lap, making his head suddenly slam against the rock that was used to make the shrine.

Koyuki woke with a start. He looked around, trying to find what woke him up. When he spotted me looking particularly happier than I had earlier, he smiled. "Glaceon?"

"If you asked if I'm ready to go back and talk to Rayquaza, then the answer is yes," I said.

Koyuki nodded, telling me that I was right on the money. I smiled and started to walk back up to the top and Koyuki followed me. I made it up in a few seconds and everyone looked at me. They all looked glad that I had come back. Especially Lizzy.

"Kyle! Are you okay?" she asked me.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "I just needed a bit of time to think…"

"Good," Rayquaza said. "Now that you're feeling better and your story has been told, let's start figuring out what our plan is."

"Plan?" Joey asked. "What plan? For what?"

"We just came here because we wanted to see if Kyle's medallion matched the symbol here," Lizzy explained.

"Well, how odd…" Rayquaza said, sounding puzzled. "You never knew what the medallion meant?"

I shook my head. "No, I never knew about it… I just sorta had it ever since I found it in my granddad's attic."

"You never knew that the bearer of that medallion is chosen to return Voer to the way it was?" Rayquaza asked.

"Um, no," I said bluntly. "Not really."

"Well, now you do should," Rayquaza said. "As the bearer of that medallion, your duty is to return Voer to its previous state."

"…And how the hell am I supposed to do that?" I said. I was one person, how was I supposed to change an entire world?

"Well, that's where my plan, that I've created while I've been waiting for you… comes in," Rayquaza said.

"Even with a plan, it's still too much for one person to do!" I yelled.

"If you'd let me tell you my plan, you'd see how easy it is," Rayquaza said, still managing to remain calm.

"Alright, what's your plan?" I asked, beginning to get a little irritated at the giant dragon Pokemon.

"It's quite simple, actually…" he began. "But you might want to take a seat. It will might take a while to fully explain…"

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A/N: Sorry for the cliffie, didn't have enough time to get that down... Later!


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